In between visits to the stickerbang, the noraebang, the DVD bang, and well, pretty much any bang I can find, I occasionally turn up for work and ummm...TEACH. Or at least try to.
Without sounding too "Kids Say the Darndest Things" (if only because those Cosby-esque sweaters are SOOOO not flattering), I've had two rather noteworthy run-ins with my students recently.
I teach a class of 7 students--six super-loud, rowdy, raucous boys and one sweet, timid girl. If I could only use one word to describe these boys, I think 'feral' might be it. I've been working on the boys raising their hands and saying 'pardon' instead of 'huh??' when they want something. On the day in question, the sweet, timid girl asked me a sweet, timid question without raising her hand while the boys were rioting. This caused the boys to get super offended (rioting even louder). One of the boys was nearly apoplectic, and searched for something on his cell phone dictionary, finally sputtering "TEACHER!!! YOU DID THIS: _____!" and showing me his cell phone, which read "sexual discrimination". I laughed long and I laughed hard.
A couple of days later, I was teaching another group of loud, obnoxious middle school boys. They think it's really funny to be anywhere but in the classroom when I arrive, and again, I had to go and round them up. I was in the process of storming out the door when one of the boys was pelting down the hall and nearly crashed into me. I screamed, causing him to fall on the floor for no particular reason like one of those fainting goats (picture this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3Utmj4RPU). Throughout the class that followed, he gave me periodic stricken looks which made me snort and giggle every time.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
In Which The Author Is So Vain...She Probably Thinks This Post is About Her...
Long time, no posts. I know. I'll try to make up for it with photos.
For as long as I've been able to, I've avoided being in photos. Apparently, lots of people who don't like being in photos turn to taking them instead. Not me; I'm the one hiding or holding purses in the corner. Korea's been conspiring against me in this regard.
Exhibit A:
I needed to get some passport photos for the visa for my recent trip to China. I trundled on down to Lotte Mart to get my photos after a loooooong day of work (keep this in mind when you see the evidence!) to get the photos done. Once there, the photographer's assistant groomed me, positioned me and repeatedly shouted 'no smile!'. 'No smile!'.
Korea's all about 'service', which means you can get lots of free stuff from customer service reps. I've had free food, free face masks and nail stuff from Face Shop etc. I wasn't expecting 'service' from the photographer, but that's what I got:
In addition to being weird, it's terrible grammar.
When it comes to Exhibits B through D, the scene of the crime was once again the sticker bang. Friends were finishing in Korea and we decided to head over for some silliness. We skipped the special effects this time (no pink fish lips for me!), but wore a selection of silly hats. Wooo!
For exhibits G through M, we delve into the creative minds of children. On our last day of the semester, I asked my students to write me a note and draw a picture.
G:
This is me, and apparently what I say all the time. Huh.
H:
This students loves me despite the fact that she has 'many bothered' me. Sweet?
I:
This one concerns me a little. Thoughts?
J:
I think we'll just call this one cute.
K:
This student loves me even though I apparently have a large bald spot.
L:
Ahhhh, here we go. This student apparently pictures me as Shrek, with some ass-bad hair. Note to self: a little more attention to detail may be necessary in the mornings before heading out to work.
M:
Now THIS is more like it! This student both loves me, and pictures me in a cute anime fashion. WIN!
That's all for now! Back to avoiding all photographic evidence!
For as long as I've been able to, I've avoided being in photos. Apparently, lots of people who don't like being in photos turn to taking them instead. Not me; I'm the one hiding or holding purses in the corner. Korea's been conspiring against me in this regard.
Exhibit A:
I needed to get some passport photos for the visa for my recent trip to China. I trundled on down to Lotte Mart to get my photos after a loooooong day of work (keep this in mind when you see the evidence!) to get the photos done. Once there, the photographer's assistant groomed me, positioned me and repeatedly shouted 'no smile!'. 'No smile!'.
Korea's all about 'service', which means you can get lots of free stuff from customer service reps. I've had free food, free face masks and nail stuff from Face Shop etc. I wasn't expecting 'service' from the photographer, but that's what I got:
In addition to being weird, it's terrible grammar.
When it comes to Exhibits B through D, the scene of the crime was once again the sticker bang. Friends were finishing in Korea and we decided to head over for some silliness. We skipped the special effects this time (no pink fish lips for me!), but wore a selection of silly hats. Wooo!
For exhibits G through M, we delve into the creative minds of children. On our last day of the semester, I asked my students to write me a note and draw a picture.
G:
H:
I:
This one concerns me a little. Thoughts?
J:
I think we'll just call this one cute.
K:
This student loves me even though I apparently have a large bald spot.
L:
Ahhhh, here we go. This student apparently pictures me as Shrek, with some ass-bad hair. Note to self: a little more attention to detail may be necessary in the mornings before heading out to work.
M:
Now THIS is more like it! This student both loves me, and pictures me in a cute anime fashion. WIN!
That's all for now! Back to avoiding all photographic evidence!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
In which the author harbours an imposter, and realizes she may never understand boys...
So, as many people know, Friday was Canada Day. Apparently whilst abroad, Canada Day becomes much like St Patrick's Day in which everyone is Irish. On Canada Day, everyone is Canadian for the purposes of hanging out at the Canadian expat bar (and yes, it bore a remarkable resemblance to the Hoser Hut!). The Canadians on our staff felt duty bound to try and help our Yankee cohorts blend in and avoid detection and subsequent outing as NOT being from the Great White North. To that end, we had them practice saying pop, not soda and zed, not zee. When that failed, we equipped them with alternate identities (meet my friend Amy, she's from Moose Jaw!), and disguises:
Unfortunately, when Amy asked some people if "Y'all" were also from Moose Jaw, and Sam identified herself as a "Canook!", their cover weas blown. Fun times were nevertheless had by all...
On a different note, and to explain the most recent reason I may never understand boys (much less their grown-up male counterparts), I give you exhibit A (below). My students are learning about captions (though I'm not sure why; it doesn't strike me as nearly as relevant as something of the other things they could be learning, but hey, who asked me?). In the picture below, the caption was provided and the students had to draw a picture of what the like to do at recess. After a brief discussion/definition of recess, one of my students drew the picture below.
Apparently, he likes to spy on girls in the bathroom during his recess. The more things change??
Unfortunately, when Amy asked some people if "Y'all" were also from Moose Jaw, and Sam identified herself as a "Canook!", their cover weas blown. Fun times were nevertheless had by all...
On a different note, and to explain the most recent reason I may never understand boys (much less their grown-up male counterparts), I give you exhibit A (below). My students are learning about captions (though I'm not sure why; it doesn't strike me as nearly as relevant as something of the other things they could be learning, but hey, who asked me?). In the picture below, the caption was provided and the students had to draw a picture of what the like to do at recess. After a brief discussion/definition of recess, one of my students drew the picture below.
Apparently, he likes to spy on girls in the bathroom during his recess. The more things change??
Saturday, 25 June 2011
In which the author apologizes...
...for my lack of attention to my blog. I could try to come up with lots of excuses, but the short version is, I've been really busy.
This Asian Odyssey is different than my last. I don't know if it's ME or KOREA, but things are different, and I'm having a pretty awesome time. I'll leave the serious ruminations for another time, and share some pics and details about my more recent (and mostly SFW) adventures.
Some friends and I made a return trip to Penis Park. While it was unfortunately raining when we got there, everyone cowboyed up without complaining, and switched gears to make WET penis jokes (of which there are a surprising number. Who knew?). The pics below show my friend Mary and I taking a ride, and our friend Amy after a successful Penis Safari.
We were also relieved to discover that the Penis Park now sells souvenirs, though I can't believe that they missed out on this $$$ opportunity for so long...below are Mary and Lauchlin with some superfun shot classes, and me with some...unique...salt and pepper shakers. And yes, one of us bought the item in question.
When I first moved to Incheon, I wasn't really feeling the city. It's pretty far from Seoul, the pollution is not great (see earlier posts in which I discovered I am in fact ALLERGIC to Korea)...did I mention that it is pretty far from Seoul? In any case, I've been out and about with my friends more, and it turns out that Incheon can be pretty awesome. The fab breakfast food I posted earlier is from a local-ish restaurant, and there are plenty of places to eat, shop and party. One of the local expat bars hosts weekly trivia, which we regularly attend and have even won. Once. The same bar also hosted a scavenger hunt in which teams had to find places, take silly pictures and generally play silly buggers while finding our way around the city. Good times were had by all; more pics are on Facebook, but below is our team completing the task "Make a Human Pyramid with a Korean".
My friends and I continued our adventures with a trip to Daegu to visit an old co-worker of mine. SHOCKER, but more silliness abounded. We went to an amusement park, had our faces painted (and then went out for the evening with them painted, and didn't even get a second look. Korean fashion is STRANGEE, people, and I think we fit right in...). On the second day, we three girls went shootin'. With guns. I was about as terrible as expected, my friends (also allegedly rookies, though one is Southern and the other is FIERCE) were kinda scary with the guns. My friends shot skeet while I shot AT skeet.
I also work with a pretty great group of people, and we have as much fun as possible at work. The picture below is from a reenactment of something that happened in one of my classes. One of my students allegedly poked another student in the eye with his NOSE, and I called bullshit on it. Apparently, it might ACTUALLY be possible...
Just for poops and giggles, the picture below is from an adventure in the stickerbang (a popular Korean past time amongst the pre-teen set...and krazy weygookin). Heeee!:
Lest I start feeling too complacent, I have also been seeing signs in Korea.
1) Don't stay here too long:
2) Don't wear Crocs:
This Asian Odyssey is different than my last. I don't know if it's ME or KOREA, but things are different, and I'm having a pretty awesome time. I'll leave the serious ruminations for another time, and share some pics and details about my more recent (and mostly SFW) adventures.
Some friends and I made a return trip to Penis Park. While it was unfortunately raining when we got there, everyone cowboyed up without complaining, and switched gears to make WET penis jokes (of which there are a surprising number. Who knew?). The pics below show my friend Mary and I taking a ride, and our friend Amy after a successful Penis Safari.
We were also relieved to discover that the Penis Park now sells souvenirs, though I can't believe that they missed out on this $$$ opportunity for so long...below are Mary and Lauchlin with some superfun shot classes, and me with some...unique...salt and pepper shakers. And yes, one of us bought the item in question.
When I first moved to Incheon, I wasn't really feeling the city. It's pretty far from Seoul, the pollution is not great (see earlier posts in which I discovered I am in fact ALLERGIC to Korea)...did I mention that it is pretty far from Seoul? In any case, I've been out and about with my friends more, and it turns out that Incheon can be pretty awesome. The fab breakfast food I posted earlier is from a local-ish restaurant, and there are plenty of places to eat, shop and party. One of the local expat bars hosts weekly trivia, which we regularly attend and have even won. Once. The same bar also hosted a scavenger hunt in which teams had to find places, take silly pictures and generally play silly buggers while finding our way around the city. Good times were had by all; more pics are on Facebook, but below is our team completing the task "Make a Human Pyramid with a Korean".
My friends and I continued our adventures with a trip to Daegu to visit an old co-worker of mine. SHOCKER, but more silliness abounded. We went to an amusement park, had our faces painted (and then went out for the evening with them painted, and didn't even get a second look. Korean fashion is STRANGEE, people, and I think we fit right in...). On the second day, we three girls went shootin'. With guns. I was about as terrible as expected, my friends (also allegedly rookies, though one is Southern and the other is FIERCE) were kinda scary with the guns. My friends shot skeet while I shot AT skeet.
I also work with a pretty great group of people, and we have as much fun as possible at work. The picture below is from a reenactment of something that happened in one of my classes. One of my students allegedly poked another student in the eye with his NOSE, and I called bullshit on it. Apparently, it might ACTUALLY be possible...
Just for poops and giggles, the picture below is from an adventure in the stickerbang (a popular Korean past time amongst the pre-teen set...and krazy weygookin). Heeee!:
Lest I start feeling too complacent, I have also been seeing signs in Korea.
1) Don't stay here too long:
Saturday, 28 May 2011
In Which The Author announces a move...
So, my poor little LiveJournal has been receiving an impressive amount of spam. I can't get rid of it without limiting who can comment solely to people with LiveJournal accounts--which let's face it, is a much smaller number than in, say, 2003. So, I have abandoned LiveJournal and have set up shop here at http://nomadkate.blogspot.com .
I'll have something more exciting to post shortly (penises! Pub trivia! Dr. Fish! Crocs!), but in the meantime, consider this my official change of address!
I'll have something more exciting to post shortly (penises! Pub trivia! Dr. Fish! Crocs!), but in the meantime, consider this my official change of address!
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