Korea Laughs: 2008

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Rant- Life at a Hagwon

I have a student who talks in class all the time. Not only does she talk, she hardly ever does her homework, she is late every day (and starts talking as soon as she enters the class, completely destroying the flow of whatever we're doing), she doesn't put forth any effort, and often, when she raises her hand, instead of answering a question, she starts talking about Korean boy bands. She's about 12.

Natalie, her sister, is 8. She has completed her homework twice in the year that I've taught her, and brought her book to class as many times. I don't think she owns a pencil.

They are both good kids, but undesirable students and to be honest, most days, I don't enjoy having them in my classroom.

I spend a good percentage of every class telling Sarah to be quiet. One day, she cheated on her spelling test. I tore up her paper. It's not the first time I did this and it won't the last. My kids know how I work, and most of them know where to draw the line. Sarah was also talking to Soi so I was telling her time and time again to be quiet, and I probably ended up moving her seat.

Not long after that, I spoke to my boss- again- about the problems with these girls. She explained to me that their parents work and her mother has no time to help with English and could I please be a little accomodating. I said sure, no problem. That was the end of it for me- so I thought.

Last week, Sarah was crying at school. I'm unsure about what exactly happened, but I guess she got in trouble (with the secretary, maybe?) for this incident from months ago. I was surprised that it came up again but nobody came to me about it so I let it slip out of my mind.

Today, my boss sat me down and essentially gave me an earful about how Sarah thinks I hate her and she and her sister wanted to quit our school but Iris (my boss) convinced their mother to keep them here and I should be very appreciative of Iris and their mother for not pulling them out of our school. I explained to her my point of view, she said that she understood and that she had spoken to the other kids in the class (what??? since when do you need to speak to the kids about a problem I had with one of them? WTF?) and that she knows Sarah talks a lot but I cannot tell her to be quiet anymore and I should thank her for staying. WTF????

So, not only did I get in trouble for telling a kid to be quiet, my boss spoke about that day to the other kids in the class (incidentally, they did all say that Sarah talks too much), she didn't bother to talk to me about this over the past 4 or 5 months, and now I have to let Sarah talk as much as she wants AND I have to tell her "Thank you for staying."

I don't think so.

I might be coming home sooner than I thought.

(And this is just ONE example of life at a hagwon.)

Friday, September 5, 2008

Troy is slender but Jenny is fat.

Comparison paragraphs about myself and my co-teacher from two of my 12 year olds:

Jenny and Troy have similar and different. Jenny is foreigner; likewise, Troy also foreigner. They are friends. Also, they are teachers. but Troy is slender but Jenny is fat. Also. Troy is tall but Jenny is short And Troy is handsome but Jenny is pretty, although, she is fat, but she has a diet. Instead, Troy is very tall. So, I scared him. Jenny and Troy are good friends.

Troy and Jenny is same but different. Same thing is they have big eyes. they are friends. They are foreigners. they use English, and also they work in the same place. And different things is Troy is man, but Jenny is woman. Troy had glasses but Jenny had no glasses. On one hand, Troy is thin. on the other hand, Jenny is fat. Troy is tall, but Jenny is smallar than Troy. Troy had a girlfriend, but Jenny had no boyfriend. I want Troy and Jenny are always good friends.

Random pics.

I have magic powers!

Learning body parts

Hmm...I wonder what kind of restaurant this is?

I love Korean translations!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The End of Summer

I often think about updating my blog, but recently my mind is flooded with chaos that I can't make sense of. Plus, so many things are important only to me, or are too personal to air to the millions that read my blog, or seem mundane after the fact.

I'm still planning on returning in November. I remain undecided about plans after that. A friend in China has invited me to come teach there, and a boy has invited me to live in Canada with him. (I've always wanted a moose.) I know it's nice to have choices, but the older I get, the more difficult it is to live by the seat of my pants.

I'm tired of Korea. I'm tired of bad administrative decisions. I'm tired of this life- for now. Of course I'll miss my friends and most of my students, but I'm ready for a change.

I don't really have anything else to say. Here's some pics.

Drinking wine (with ice!) and beer, on the boardwalk, out of bags.