At some point during the week, I received an email from an extending Entertaining Teacher from America. Turns out she and some other extending ATEs were going to a festival in Bongpyeong commemorating the author Lee Hyo Seok and blooming buckwheat. It’s in my county, so they thought my proximity might interest me. Well, it did, as did the prospect of meeting these ATEs who were not with us during orientation, but I decided to investigate the event’s English website as well. Blooming buckwheat and romantic donkey rides it turns out. Who can’t turn down romantic donkey rides?
So I went. It was fun. I did not ride any donkeys, though I did get my picture taken in the buckwheat fields. I also learned a lot about last year’s group of ATEs. Apparently they were a wild bunch. When I was asked for the “dirt” on this year’s bunch, I had to confess ignorance, partially because I didn’t hang out that much with everyone, at least not in big groups, but mostly because I honestly don’t think there is much dirt to be had on us. Overall, we were a fairly mellow group, especially compared to last year’s legendary status.
For those of my readers who are more interested in literature (cough… Faulkner addicts, cough, cough… BEN!) than my adventures, Lee Hyo Seok is most famous for his short story “When the Buckwheat Blossoms,” which is the inspiration for the festival.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Addendum: Writing Travel Itineraries
I’ve decided that it will be worthwhile to start recording my travel itineraries complete with mileage/time taken by bus. The reason for this is that I want to remember what bus changes I need to make to get to places like Bongpyeong (There was a bus change in Jangpyeong.), but also because at some point I want to start making bike trips to local sites.
Some trips I’m looking forward to making are to Wonjushi, the nearest big city and home to two other ATEs as well as my RA from orientation, and 공해, the nearest city that also borders the Pacific. Both of these are longer trips (about 63.6 and 101.3 km respectively), but with 3 day weekends will be well worth the time spent, especially now that we are approaching the cool, beautiful Korean fall.
Some trips I’m looking forward to making are to Wonjushi, the nearest big city and home to two other ATEs as well as my RA from orientation, and 공해, the nearest city that also borders the Pacific. Both of these are longer trips (about 63.6 and 101.3 km respectively), but with 3 day weekends will be well worth the time spent, especially now that we are approaching the cool, beautiful Korean fall.
Friday, September 7, 2007
MBC원주 Riverside Concert and Announcement for 2018 Really Big, Five Ringed Flag, International Cold Weather Sporting Event Hopes
On Thursday night, my host family informed me that I’d have to leave TKD early on Friday night so that I could eat at the beauty shop at 7:00 pm. Why was I eating at the beauty shop at 7:00 pm? It turns out that there was going to be a concert by the river sponsored by MBC원주. (SIDE NOTE: It has frustrated me to no end that the local news stations are run by MBC. Everytime I hear announcements about programming on it, I always think NBC. For all I know, what with America being globally influential, there actually is an NBC station running in South Korea.) The concert was some sort of contest for up and coming trot singers, trot being akin to American country music in terms of social stigma but stylistically more like lounge lizard music.
The concert itself was entertaining enough. I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics, of course, except for the ubiquitous 사랑 (love) that permeated every song. What was more entertaining was the light and pyrotechnic displays that would accompany these songs. I kid you not—not only fireworks, but great balls of fire. Plumes, even, that burst from the stage floor as background dancers shook and shimmied and backup singers moved their arms in coordinated splendor. Really though. Fire? For trot?
It was cool to see some of my students and TKD buddies at the event though. They either blushed or said enthusiastic “Hello”s.
The other big event at this concert was an announcement concerning the 2018 Really Big, Five Ringed Flag, International Cold Sporting Event. (I’ve changed the name for the sake of not revealing my location. Figure out what it means.) Apparently, my hamlet is ready to try its hand at attracting this event for the third time in a row.
I’ve a couple of discussions with locals and concerned ATEs about whether hosting this event would be good or bad for the economy/environment of the area. I think in the short term it would be good, but in the long term… it’s debatable. The economy boost would certainly be considerable in the short term as the area’s tourism would skyrocket and so would the facilities and infrastructure necessary to host that tourism, but I worry about this area damaging its rustic qualities (which it trades heavily on) to such a degree as to make them laughable. I also worry about the area building so many hotels that it essentially becomes a ghost town. After all, once the event leaves, who will come here besides those who have always come? There are already plenty of hotels to house these.
The concert itself was entertaining enough. I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics, of course, except for the ubiquitous 사랑 (love) that permeated every song. What was more entertaining was the light and pyrotechnic displays that would accompany these songs. I kid you not—not only fireworks, but great balls of fire. Plumes, even, that burst from the stage floor as background dancers shook and shimmied and backup singers moved their arms in coordinated splendor. Really though. Fire? For trot?
It was cool to see some of my students and TKD buddies at the event though. They either blushed or said enthusiastic “Hello”s.
The other big event at this concert was an announcement concerning the 2018 Really Big, Five Ringed Flag, International Cold Sporting Event. (I’ve changed the name for the sake of not revealing my location. Figure out what it means.) Apparently, my hamlet is ready to try its hand at attracting this event for the third time in a row.
I’ve a couple of discussions with locals and concerned ATEs about whether hosting this event would be good or bad for the economy/environment of the area. I think in the short term it would be good, but in the long term… it’s debatable. The economy boost would certainly be considerable in the short term as the area’s tourism would skyrocket and so would the facilities and infrastructure necessary to host that tourism, but I worry about this area damaging its rustic qualities (which it trades heavily on) to such a degree as to make them laughable. I also worry about the area building so many hotels that it essentially becomes a ghost town. After all, once the event leaves, who will come here besides those who have always come? There are already plenty of hotels to house these.
TKD Weekly Update
TKD this week was a lot of fun. It also kicked my butt. Let me explain.
The first fun thing is that one of my high school students is apparently a black belt and has decided to return to TKD classes at the dojang. Unfortunately, he’s one of my second years whose English is a little iffy. Still, I appreciate his presence. He has brought a friend along who is just starting TKD apparently. I was actually teaching him a form the other night. (Laugh it up.)
The second fun thing is that I’m actually starting to learn the forms in some kind of semblance of order now. As it stands, I can complete Form 1 by myself and Forms 2 and 4 if I’m in a group.
The third fun thing is that I started learning hanja (Chinese characters) this week. I now know how to write mouth, sun, four, and five. At first I was working in a generic ideograph workbook I brought from orientation. I was just copying from the wall charts. But the sabonim gave me an actual TKD/hanja workbook with letters to trace and everything! With each hanja is a factoid about TKD, which is unfortunately in Korean and thus impossible to read.
Add these four to the hanja I can recognize from exposure in Korea and Japan (water, fire, moon, big, mountain, one, two, three, and stop), and I’m well on my way. I feel like it’ll be good to learn hanja for a couple of reasons, or one big reason and two sub-reasons—grad school, the sub-reasons being Chinese and Japanese. I may not know how to pronounce the characters, but at least I’ll be able to read them, and that’s a start. I figure it’ll also help improve my Korean category by degrees.
The fourth fun thing is that I finally met the kwanjangnim. Here’s where the butt kicking starts. With him. Basically, he arrived, he set me up on a target dummy by myself (I’m the only yellow belt), and had me do dulachagi with my left leg for about half an hour. That’s 30 minutes, one leg. Man, I was pooped. Later on in the week for movement drills I had to go against the sabonim. I’ve got the popped blisters to prove it. The good news is my body is recovering faster and faster from fatigue and soreness, and I’m losing the weight my doc said I needed to lose to avoid getting diabetes. Two hours of TKD a night is a lot of exercise, plus all the walking/bike riding I’m doing everyday anyway. I sleep well and long these nights.
The first fun thing is that one of my high school students is apparently a black belt and has decided to return to TKD classes at the dojang. Unfortunately, he’s one of my second years whose English is a little iffy. Still, I appreciate his presence. He has brought a friend along who is just starting TKD apparently. I was actually teaching him a form the other night. (Laugh it up.)
The second fun thing is that I’m actually starting to learn the forms in some kind of semblance of order now. As it stands, I can complete Form 1 by myself and Forms 2 and 4 if I’m in a group.
The third fun thing is that I started learning hanja (Chinese characters) this week. I now know how to write mouth, sun, four, and five. At first I was working in a generic ideograph workbook I brought from orientation. I was just copying from the wall charts. But the sabonim gave me an actual TKD/hanja workbook with letters to trace and everything! With each hanja is a factoid about TKD, which is unfortunately in Korean and thus impossible to read.
Add these four to the hanja I can recognize from exposure in Korea and Japan (water, fire, moon, big, mountain, one, two, three, and stop), and I’m well on my way. I feel like it’ll be good to learn hanja for a couple of reasons, or one big reason and two sub-reasons—grad school, the sub-reasons being Chinese and Japanese. I may not know how to pronounce the characters, but at least I’ll be able to read them, and that’s a start. I figure it’ll also help improve my Korean category by degrees.
The fourth fun thing is that I finally met the kwanjangnim. Here’s where the butt kicking starts. With him. Basically, he arrived, he set me up on a target dummy by myself (I’m the only yellow belt), and had me do dulachagi with my left leg for about half an hour. That’s 30 minutes, one leg. Man, I was pooped. Later on in the week for movement drills I had to go against the sabonim. I’ve got the popped blisters to prove it. The good news is my body is recovering faster and faster from fatigue and soreness, and I’m losing the weight my doc said I needed to lose to avoid getting diabetes. Two hours of TKD a night is a lot of exercise, plus all the walking/bike riding I’m doing everyday anyway. I sleep well and long these nights.
Addendum: Speaking of Hanja… Comic Books!
My host brother, 8, keeps begging his parents to let him take TKD. I think they may be wearing down. They asked me how much lessons were (70,000 won/month). I told them that this includes learning hanja, and to make the point clear, I demonstrated the four hanja I’d already learned. The host father brightened at this.
Apparently the family is fairly seriously about their son learning these characters at an early age. This is evidenced by the fact that in my room (where they keep most of my host brother’s books) is a comic book series, 마법첸자문, which is actually a learning tool for hanja. The main character must learn new ideographs to open up new moves to defeat various bosses who all have their own ideographs. There is even a brand of cookie similar to Nabisco’s Nilla Wafers that includes as a prize (a la Cracker Jacks) a collectible playing card. If I ever learn enough Korean, I’m definitely going to plow through these books. As it is, I might just buy a box of cookies every time I go to the bus station on a trip.
Apparently the family is fairly seriously about their son learning these characters at an early age. This is evidenced by the fact that in my room (where they keep most of my host brother’s books) is a comic book series, 마법첸자문, which is actually a learning tool for hanja. The main character must learn new ideographs to open up new moves to defeat various bosses who all have their own ideographs. There is even a brand of cookie similar to Nabisco’s Nilla Wafers that includes as a prize (a la Cracker Jacks) a collectible playing card. If I ever learn enough Korean, I’m definitely going to plow through these books. As it is, I might just buy a box of cookies every time I go to the bus station on a trip.
Teaching: Seven Years of English
Teaching this week was a little hit-and-miss in terms of student interest/participation. The adult classes went fairly smoothly, though I was running out of steam by the end of the week, and I fear my adult beginners may have suffered for it. The high school classes required the most energy as it was hard to get the students excited about the activities I had planned for them. Here’s how the classes broke down:
Grade 1: I had planned on doing a straight TPR lesson with these students working various commands and classroom objects. My first class blew right through it. Luckily, the co-teacher was there and said, “Why don’t you talk about Dog Soup?” Ok. So we talked about Dog Soup. Why do Koreans drink it? Why don’t Americans? What do you think? Explain it to me. Etc., etc., etc. After this, I felt inspired to give them a talking to about how much English they could understand and communicate:
“When did you start taking English?” Third grade, elementary school. “How old were you?” 10 years old. “How old are you now?” 17 years old. “How many years have you been taking English?” 7 years. “Seven years?! SEVEN years? Seven YEARS?! Seven years is a long time. An obscenely long time. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Yes. “You know more English than you know. But you do not talk to me. I thought this commands lesson would be good for your level, but it’s too easy! You guys are geniuses! You can speak in English. You just can’t do it well, yet, but that’s ok. You just need to practice. Just speak English at me, and I’ll help you correct what you’re saying, but please speak English!”
I decided to do that with the rest of the first years, even my troublesome bottom tier class. Seven years is an obscenely long time. They should’ve been talking years ago. They can talk about Dog Soup, after all. It’s excruciatingly slow, but they can do it. I don’t think they need TPR anymore. They need to have someone who’ll make them talk back in English about subjects they might not thought of talking about before. We’ll help each other find the missing vocabulary when necessary.
So, we’ll talk about sports, and feelings, and movies, and girls, and guys, and Americans, and Koreans. At least, I hope we will. I just have to figure out what vocabulary they need to talk about this kind of stuff…
Grade 2: This week, I had the second graders recite “The Announcer’s Test,” a speaking test invented in the 1940s to audition prospective radio talent and made popular as a memory test by comedian Jerry Lewis on The Tonight Show later on. (It’s now a drinking game in a slightly modified version designed to be “funny”.) We used to do it at Arrowhead Lutheran Camp as a time killer before Sunday evening hamburgers. (Man, I could go for a hamburger right now. I mean a real one, not one from Lotteria.) The test utilizes every letter of the alphabet in a variety of ways and also contains all the sounds of the English language. Thus, if you can recite it, you can say pretty much anything in English.
It is, however, very long. This was highly frustrating for the students (something I’m trying to avoid like the plague). I’ve decided to give the students the script for “The Announcer’s Test”. If they can say it to me memorized by the last Friday in September, they can receive a prize. I don’t want this to be stressful for them, just a good way to practice speaking. Plus, if they actually figure out what the vocabulary is on the worksheet, they’re going to have stellar vocab words to pull from. How many Korean students do you know who can use the words “diabetic,” “apathetic,” and “sympathetic” in a sentence? (If you’re ate a language high school or science high school, don’t answer that.)
I think I’m going to try moving Grade 2 back onto the same lesson track as Grade 1. I’m just going to expect more advanced responses from them.
Advanced Adults: Day 1 talked about class sizes and why young people aren’t getting married. Day 2 talked about Better than Ezra’s “A Lifetime” and Norman Rockwell paintings. I love this class.
Beginning Adults: Day 1, more shopping and tongue twisters with the “th” sound. Went to the department store this time. Joy. Day 2, I told them about my foray with Dog Soup. They asked me about it. I told them about it. I asked them about it. Asked about what they all do with their free time. It was freeform discussion, and pretty decent for a beginning class. One of my ladies is also taking Japanese. Apparently she’s becoming quite the cosmopolitan in her old age. She wants to see the world. After the freeform discussion, which included discussion of a couple of proverbs—“Live and let live,” “When in Rome…” and “Less is more”—we worked on pronunciation of the “f/v” and “r/l” sounds.
Still no word on when I’m to begin the Teacher’s Conversation course. We’re still trying to find a time that would be amenable to the three interested parties and myself. They would like to meet on Monday during 7th Period. I’d prefer not to, as Monday is ostensibly my day off, even if I find myself in the 교무실 catching up on email most of the day anyway. I’m willing to work on this day, but I’d rather not, especially as I’m beginning to travel a bit more on the weekends and would appreciate the three-day weekends. Ideally, I’d like them to just come to the Beginning Adult classes when they can. They’d get about four possible hours a week that way anyway instead of the one hour a week they’d get from a separate class just for them. My co-teacher still has to talk things out with them, thus the delay in a schedule decision.
Next week, the advanced adult class will watch a movie, either “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith or “The Prince and Pauper” starring Errol Flynn. Both have their strong points in terms of talking about America, though I think “Pursuit” is probably more accessible (“What do you think of homelessness?”) whereas “P and P” lends itself more to questions about American cultural norms (“How does this reflect a Horatio Alger mentality?”). I think all the rest of my classes will go through a lesson on expressing emotion using one of those emotion charts and different images designed to elicit different feelings. Still, I’ve promised the beginning adults something on the uses of “get” in English, so that will take a little extra preparation.
Grade 1: I had planned on doing a straight TPR lesson with these students working various commands and classroom objects. My first class blew right through it. Luckily, the co-teacher was there and said, “Why don’t you talk about Dog Soup?” Ok. So we talked about Dog Soup. Why do Koreans drink it? Why don’t Americans? What do you think? Explain it to me. Etc., etc., etc. After this, I felt inspired to give them a talking to about how much English they could understand and communicate:
“When did you start taking English?” Third grade, elementary school. “How old were you?” 10 years old. “How old are you now?” 17 years old. “How many years have you been taking English?” 7 years. “Seven years?! SEVEN years? Seven YEARS?! Seven years is a long time. An obscenely long time. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Yes. “You know more English than you know. But you do not talk to me. I thought this commands lesson would be good for your level, but it’s too easy! You guys are geniuses! You can speak in English. You just can’t do it well, yet, but that’s ok. You just need to practice. Just speak English at me, and I’ll help you correct what you’re saying, but please speak English!”
I decided to do that with the rest of the first years, even my troublesome bottom tier class. Seven years is an obscenely long time. They should’ve been talking years ago. They can talk about Dog Soup, after all. It’s excruciatingly slow, but they can do it. I don’t think they need TPR anymore. They need to have someone who’ll make them talk back in English about subjects they might not thought of talking about before. We’ll help each other find the missing vocabulary when necessary.
So, we’ll talk about sports, and feelings, and movies, and girls, and guys, and Americans, and Koreans. At least, I hope we will. I just have to figure out what vocabulary they need to talk about this kind of stuff…
Grade 2: This week, I had the second graders recite “The Announcer’s Test,” a speaking test invented in the 1940s to audition prospective radio talent and made popular as a memory test by comedian Jerry Lewis on The Tonight Show later on. (It’s now a drinking game in a slightly modified version designed to be “funny”.) We used to do it at Arrowhead Lutheran Camp as a time killer before Sunday evening hamburgers. (Man, I could go for a hamburger right now. I mean a real one, not one from Lotteria.) The test utilizes every letter of the alphabet in a variety of ways and also contains all the sounds of the English language. Thus, if you can recite it, you can say pretty much anything in English.
It is, however, very long. This was highly frustrating for the students (something I’m trying to avoid like the plague). I’ve decided to give the students the script for “The Announcer’s Test”. If they can say it to me memorized by the last Friday in September, they can receive a prize. I don’t want this to be stressful for them, just a good way to practice speaking. Plus, if they actually figure out what the vocabulary is on the worksheet, they’re going to have stellar vocab words to pull from. How many Korean students do you know who can use the words “diabetic,” “apathetic,” and “sympathetic” in a sentence? (If you’re ate a language high school or science high school, don’t answer that.)
I think I’m going to try moving Grade 2 back onto the same lesson track as Grade 1. I’m just going to expect more advanced responses from them.
Advanced Adults: Day 1 talked about class sizes and why young people aren’t getting married. Day 2 talked about Better than Ezra’s “A Lifetime” and Norman Rockwell paintings. I love this class.
Beginning Adults: Day 1, more shopping and tongue twisters with the “th” sound. Went to the department store this time. Joy. Day 2, I told them about my foray with Dog Soup. They asked me about it. I told them about it. I asked them about it. Asked about what they all do with their free time. It was freeform discussion, and pretty decent for a beginning class. One of my ladies is also taking Japanese. Apparently she’s becoming quite the cosmopolitan in her old age. She wants to see the world. After the freeform discussion, which included discussion of a couple of proverbs—“Live and let live,” “When in Rome…” and “Less is more”—we worked on pronunciation of the “f/v” and “r/l” sounds.
Still no word on when I’m to begin the Teacher’s Conversation course. We’re still trying to find a time that would be amenable to the three interested parties and myself. They would like to meet on Monday during 7th Period. I’d prefer not to, as Monday is ostensibly my day off, even if I find myself in the 교무실 catching up on email most of the day anyway. I’m willing to work on this day, but I’d rather not, especially as I’m beginning to travel a bit more on the weekends and would appreciate the three-day weekends. Ideally, I’d like them to just come to the Beginning Adult classes when they can. They’d get about four possible hours a week that way anyway instead of the one hour a week they’d get from a separate class just for them. My co-teacher still has to talk things out with them, thus the delay in a schedule decision.
Next week, the advanced adult class will watch a movie, either “The Pursuit of Happyness” starring Will Smith or “The Prince and Pauper” starring Errol Flynn. Both have their strong points in terms of talking about America, though I think “Pursuit” is probably more accessible (“What do you think of homelessness?”) whereas “P and P” lends itself more to questions about American cultural norms (“How does this reflect a Horatio Alger mentality?”). I think all the rest of my classes will go through a lesson on expressing emotion using one of those emotion charts and different images designed to elicit different feelings. Still, I’ve promised the beginning adults something on the uses of “get” in English, so that will take a little extra preparation.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Culinary Note: Dog Soup (영양탕 or 보신탕)
Dog Soup, in Korean yeongyangtang, which means "nutricious soup" or boshintang, which means "invigorating soup" (영양탕 or 보신탕 respectively), is probably one of the most delicious things I've had yet in Korea. Surprisingly delicious, in fact. I ate it today for lunch with the other English teachers and some other faculty. It has the taste and consistency of beef, but is a little more tender and sweeter. It is served with various vegetables in a dark broth. Despite its fantastic taste, I probably will not be partaking of it very often, as it costs a pretty penny (about 8000 won or $8-9). At the same restaurant, I can also try goat soup, though I will have to wait on this.
But, why Jeremy?! Why? Man's best friend, for crying out loud! Oh, the humanity of eating a canine-ity: For those who are wondering about the ethical implications of this, Dog Soup is made from dogs that have been farmed, not household pets or even stray dogs. Thus, eating it is probably no different from eating a cow. Now, if eating beef causes you an ethical dilemma, then we have something to talk about. Just remember, I didn't eat Fido, today. I ate Bessie, or at least, Bessie's canine equivalent.
[Edit: I have since looked at some articles online about the dogmeat trade in Korea. As far as I can tell, it's actually illegal here. Many websites talk about how the industry has gone underground, though. This is not the case. The idustry is still above ground. The restaurant I went to was not shady. It was out in the open. Thus, I have a feeling it's illegal in Korea sort of the way that jaywalking is illegal in the states. No one's gonna bust your chops over it.]
But, why Jeremy?! Why? Man's best friend, for crying out loud! Oh, the humanity of eating a canine-ity: For those who are wondering about the ethical implications of this, Dog Soup is made from dogs that have been farmed, not household pets or even stray dogs. Thus, eating it is probably no different from eating a cow. Now, if eating beef causes you an ethical dilemma, then we have something to talk about. Just remember, I didn't eat Fido, today. I ate Bessie, or at least, Bessie's canine equivalent.
[Edit: I have since looked at some articles online about the dogmeat trade in Korea. As far as I can tell, it's actually illegal here. Many websites talk about how the industry has gone underground, though. This is not the case. The idustry is still above ground. The restaurant I went to was not shady. It was out in the open. Thus, I have a feeling it's illegal in Korea sort of the way that jaywalking is illegal in the states. No one's gonna bust your chops over it.]
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