Trip to Seoul

We had a really nice trip to Seoul this weekend. We visited my sister in law and her family. They were all great and we really enjoyed our time there.

Being a curious fool, I asked her parents about the Japanese occupation. Her father, who is generally a quiet man, spoke up quickly. He talked about Koreans being forced to change their names, about his first 5 years of education and being forced to learn Japanese. He said that Korean was banned from the school. They spoke of the Japanese taking foodstuffs and there was insufficient quality and quantity of food. Both the parents talked about the Japanese taking precious metals for the war efforts. Because many of the things used to pay homage to their ancestors used these metals, families hid them underground to prevent them being seized. There were spies everyone, so everyone lived in fear.

I suppose it is easier to understand the animosity that some feel towards the Japanese when you hear of the hardship of their childhood under their rule.

Being a tourist

We made a few touristy stops while in Seoul including the last residence of the King of Korea.

It is good to be king. This was his official residence.

I know it is not much, but I loved this little building. Sandy fears that this will be about the size of our home in retirement.

I really loved Sandy's hat....I gave it two snaps up! This is a very funny comment if you have seen the old american TV show, "In Living Color"

This girl, who was getting ready for her wedding at the palace, pulled off the traditional clothes a bit better than we did.

Semi-cute, completely dopey...sometimes I can not believe the stuff we end up doing.

Mixed up

I realized after we returned from Seoul that I took no pictures with my sister in law and her family...what an idiot I am. On the other hand, I got 5 pictures of this girls shoes. You think I got my priorities mixed up?

I should be arrested any day

I was chatting with another English teacher in the office this afternoon and a normal conversation with a student starts, "How are you", she responds, "I'm hot!". I knew that she meant temperature, but the way she said it sounded like she was saying she was "hot" in a sexy way. Being a good English teacher, I started to explain to her, "Hot has more than one meaning. If you say you're hot, it can mean temperature. If you say your hot, it can also mean you're sexy".

I should have phrased that differently because she only understood the last two words, so she interupted and said, "Thank You". I think I said, "Eh.ah,oh...no,no, no....I am not saying you're sexy. I am saying that you could mean that when you're hot".

Of course my colleague was greatly amused by my being completely flustered and tried to make sure everything was clear to the student.

Unleashing a Beast

I have started having the students write essays this term. I mark them (which in case you are wondering, is the most boring thing I have ever done in my life). I give them a score and post the best essays on my bulletin board.

Today I gave back the first essays and I think I may have unleashed a beast. I guess I knew the kids were competitive, but I did not realize they would be so excited about having their essays posted. The class is all really, really smart girls. They are great to teach, but I am worried that I will be chased down and beaten if I make a mistake marking and scoring the essays.

Angry Grannies

30 minutes ago I was sitting around in my shorts and then I hear "boom, boom, boom" on my door. I open my door and there it is, what every man here fears...two angry old ladies. They started with the angry high pitch whinny old lady talk. Oh crap, they are not responding to my saying that I do not speak Korean. Finally they push by me and come into my house and walk to the balcony. They were so focused on the balcony, they did not even notice that the flash went off (tacky to take pictures of everything I know, but I can not help myself).

I call my friend, "Help!" and she translates. The old ladies tell her my screen fell down to their apartment. They want me to go down there. Luckily, the guy next door came by. He speaks no English too, but at least he is on my side.

Down we go to their apartment and they show me their balcony and the screen that had fallen from somewhere went into their balcony and tore the screen on their screen door. We grabbed the screen and were getting ready to leave. The neighbors boy was in front of me, so I waited patiently for him to put on his shoes. As it turns out, I am the only one who is patient and one of the old ladies gives me a solid push in the back. "Lovely!". The boy finally gets his shoes on and starts walking...apparently not fast enough for Granny Rush A Lot so I got another shove. This should be shocking, but I have gotten used to pushy grannies here.

We got back up stairs and the screen fit our window, so it must have been ours. The only problem was we do not think there was a screen there before. Either way, the landlord is responsible for it, so I am not going to worry.

The little ladies cooled out a bit and said, "Thank You" in English, laughed and bid us a fond adieu.

Boy Who Needs Surgery Post 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a boy who needs surgery and the students starting to organize a campaign to raise money. Today we had our 4th meeting and we have plans in place for our 1st fundraiser. The group, which includes about 20 students, will have donation boxes for each classroom. They are going to make posters to tell their classmates about the boy. In addition, the school newspaper is going to write a story about him. I am quite proud of the students right now.

Phone numbers for Desperate Dudes

With narrow roads with almost no parking, people have to double park. To alleviate any potential double parking disasters, people put little pillows with their phone numbers on them so they can be called if their car is blocking anyone. Brilliant idea unless you are a hot girl and a desperate dude gets your number and starts calling.

Mongolia Kids

When we were in Mongolia, we were traveling with a nice French family. I just saw a pic from his blog of some kids we met who were playing in their father's truck (until dad shooed them away). Great pic, cute kids.

Happy Anniversary To Me

Today is our 23rd anniversary. I say happy anniversary to me since I am pretty sure Sandy is still wondering why the hell she married me. Either way, I thought nothing says I love you better than the pencil case one of my boys has.

"I am in everlasting love with you. It is impossible to be in love and be wise. Believe in the best". Amen.

My First Korean Beef

Being our anniversary, I finally invested in some Korean beef today. Yes, I am a romantic fool. The beef in this single medium sized hamburger cost $5, but at least I did not have to deal with the toxic crap they send from America.

A little dude, a little poo, a little show

I can just imagine a little boy getting ready to take a poo (this, once again, shows that I need a life) and dad takes him into the public bathroom with the toilet in the middle of the room. He must be thinking "I am just getting the whole not pooping in the pants thing down, and now dad is making me show off to anyone who walks in."

A little nip, a little tuck

Some of my friends have commented on the immense focus women put on their appearance here. It is quite normal to see women constantly checking make-up on trains, work, buses...everywhere. The kids are always working their mirrors in class. Walking down the streets in trendy areas, the majority of girls are wearing incredibly high heels many with short skirts.

Being a man, I support all of these things, but given the number of comments Sandy makes about the skirts and the heels, I am guessing she is less supportive of this aspect of Korean culture.

That said, this story should not surprise me, but it does. It says that a quarter of university students have cosmetic surgery. I asked a colleague, and she said she was surprised it was that low.

Double eyelid surgery, which gives the appearance of a line (I think) and deeper set eyes, is the most popular surgery. Botox and nose enlargement (who would thunk it?) are also very popular.

My favorite quote in the story is "... only 13 percent chose to undergo cosmetic surgery for vital reasons such as employment". I can just imagine the application, "Those with no folds in the eyelids need not apply."

What do I do with that?

Yesterday one of my students was slightly acting up in class. I had her move seats. After the class I asked her to come over and talk with me. She came over to me with great hesitation. I said, "You were a little naughty today!". She seemed so afraid...was she worried I would beat her (more about this another time)? I said, "Don't worry, it is OK". Finally she came out with it, "but I love you Steve". Not the response I was expecting. Being a trained professional, I mumbled incoherently and walked away.

A Boy Who Needs Surgery-Part 1

I mentioned in an earlier post a class I had with a friend from Thailand. During the lesson my students learned about a 5 year old boy who was staying with his grandmother a couple of years ago. One day she left some acid out that she used to polish the stones and the boy drank it believing it was water. This left him with a badly burned trachea and unable to eat solid foods.

My friend in Thailand is arranging for operations to clear scar tissue and fix the situation. The boy has had 5 operations and will need about 5 more. Each operation costs about $300. If the boy was Thai, he would be able to get the operations for a nominal amount of money. Unfortunately, he is from Burma and can not get Thai government support.

Because the parents are afraid the boy will eat something that will spoil the work done in the first 5 operations, he is not going to school.

I knew that some of my students wanted to help the little boy, so I had a meeting to organize some fundraisers for the boy. The kids seem to be enthusiastic about the idea.

I am going to have a series of lessons about problems that children in developing countries face. I am hoping that at the end of the series of lessons, the kids will have learned something about kids in developing countries and the power they have to help change their lives.

I had a meeting with the Principle, Vice-Principle, and some other teachers about the idea. As it turns out, my school likes the idea because it will help the students enter a good university.

Hopefully this is the first part of a good story.

Excellent Notebook

We picked up a notebook yesterday and noticed it had an inspirational (I think) message.

"Aspirit of Adventure. It's not shameful that you have failed cowardness of not able to challenge is bigger disgrace never give up if you challenge that." Excellent.

Swine Flu Explosion

It sounded like an explosion in the school just now. I am guessing the kids just found out that school will be closed for the next 3 days due to the H1N1 flu (swine flue), which they call the new flu. I have a feeling that this will not be their last holiday because of this. We teachers, of course, must still come to school.

I would recommend against following this kids lead if you want to avoid the flu.

Suicide...bad trends

Korea has the highest suicide rate in the world according to the OECD and this article. The rate is rapidly rising and is already far ahead of Hungary and Japan who have the 2nd and 3rd highest rates and over twice the rate of the US. Suicide is the number one cause of death for people in their 20's and 30's in Korea according to National Statistic Office. The article gives a number of reasons, but I am not sure if anyone really knows.

I thought it was "trendy" because a number of celebrities have done it recently. A friend told me about the Werther effect which says the behaviors can be contagious and that is especially true with suicide.

Update

A kid at a local school killed herself two days ago. Apparently the teachers don't get any training to recognize the signs of a kid contemplating this. After one of my students who I cared about in Japan attempted suicide, I realized that sometimes the signs are not so clear or your too damn busy to recognize them. Thankfully she survived.

I asked my school if they could provide the teachers training in this area. They seem to be enthusiastic about the idea and a teacher already recommended a counselor who could provide the training. Hopefully it will happen soon.