Keep Your Bonus Money

You all know how Tuesdays go at YCE. I was sooooo annoyed today and slightly pleased. School will be finished  so soon! Another semester will start. After all the crappy times at this school, I am ready to tell my main school, "You know what? Money isn't everything. I don't need a bonus check and YCE can do bad all by itself. I don't need to go over ever week. In the meantime, how about I just step it up at your school?"

My wallet would cry and my credit card debt would laugh, but I don't care. Happiness is so much more important than working at a place that makes you crazy. If I have the same co-teacher, I can't do it. However, if the co-teacher changes, I may be willing to test the waters. In that case, it would be the as if I went to a new school altogether.


On a positive note, in Chinese class today we were supposed to present a movie idea. I listened to my peers but honestly, they hadn't done their homework. Not much thought put in and soooo many pauses as they tried to think of stuff to say. Come on Korea! You guys are paying for this class! Anywho, I was sooooo happy for my turn. I explained the concept and everyone kept asking questions I'd yet to think about. I'm gonna take that as a sign that I need to write that book. Although, if it's anything like this blog, don't expect it for a while. :(

By the way, I really really really really (keep it going) want 소지섭 So Jisub to be the main character if the book ever becomes a movie, but that means I need to hurry before he retires. He would definitely be able to make you feel the way I, the writer, want you to feel!!!! And that would involve noooooo marital feelings. That's just for me.(How embarrassing to say that out loud write it on the world wide web but he really makes me happy!)

I am really sorry for not updating in time on time.

Angry Enough To Vomit

I went to the English service at Nambu Church for the 11 am service. I go late most of the time because I prefer my own praise and worship style. I try to focus on the lesson and think about how to apply it to my life. Many people are happy to see me and whisper how much they would love it if I attended every service and on time. After service we eat lunch together and I chat with the different members.

Unfortunately, I'm thinking "I am not really comfortable with you and not sure I enjoy chatting with you each Sunday as if we are friends." My definition of friend isn't so light. I accompany my Chinese teacher that comes to church to practice English, to Gangnam Joongang Church. They don't have any English services, but at 2pm there is an abundance of young Koreans and we try to listen to the sermon as much as we can. We have downloaded bibles to our phones that have dual language capabilities, but as we all know, in church you aren't reading the whole time.

We finish the service and head down to the church cafe like always. We sit in a group consisting of us two, a 2nd Chinese teacher that joins us for this church's service, a Korean guy that apparently loves languages, the pastor's wife and the pastor. The chit chat is fairly minimal but the pastor and his wife express that they'd love to see me at more services. They are very friendly people and I enjoy them being there, but we can't quite communicate, because I don't really have much to say in Korean...to them. I'd prefer to discuss the sermon of the day or life battles and my personal bible study time but that just isn't my level of Korean...speaking anyway.

The pastor then calls some random kid over around my age and tells them to talk to me since their English is good, as they are students that study in Australia, the U.S., etc. We talk a bit about what they're studying and they welcome me and ask about my hometown, etc and then leave.

Today is when I couldn't lie to myself any longer.
1. I do not enjoy chit chatting with people that have no intention of doing so in the first place. If we don't talk outside of church, I don't consider you a friend that I need to commit to a schedule of being available for each service to chat about non-service things.

2. I do not enjoy people seeing me in church for the past couple of months, not greeting me and explaining that they live/study in my home country. I know many will want to bash me for that line but here's the thing. Korea is a "I'm sorry I don't speak English so I won't talk to you" culture. It's also a don't-introduce-yourself-wait-until-you-have-mutual-friends culture. On top of that, it's a don't-acknowledge-that-person's-presence-until-an-introduction culture. (Not as in they are rude to foreigners, as in this is seen as rude and strange in their culture.)

3. I don't have any friends in my city. After my one left to finish her MA, good luck, I have no one. The Koreans I salsa with here seem determined to ignore my interest no matter how much Korean I speak to them. Then again, they are in their 30's and possibly can't be bothered. My Chinese teachers work at night and on Saturdays, so we don't have much time to hang out. They are awesome people and my age, but our schedules don't fit. The foreigners here are so against brown skin that I can't attend all the parties they have and such.

Overall, I'm not liking my thinking about staying on for a second contracted year. Maybe by being honest with myself I can pull through. Afterall, I'm not lying to myself about enjoying my schools 90% of the time. My soon to graduate 9th graders included. ^^ Good luck babies~~!

I Honestly Love NH Bank

You will hear that you need to get a KEB bank account to have the best your money can get and the ease your mind needs to be happy with your money traveling back and forth between countries. 

BUT!

I am here to tell you (no matter what Carl says) that NH and I have a committed monogamous relationship. I haven't cheated on NH after my 3rd month of being here. They opened my account the first day swiftly with my coTs help. Then I went back to ask them to fix my account to do online banking. Done the same day. They filled out my paper work and told me it would be in my best interest to have my coT help me set it up over the school computer. They were right.

Then I needed to send money to the states and the first time they did it for me. They also told me how much I'd need to send in person for a better rate at the bank. Anywho, when I send money on-line I have the option of Sky Miles or a Gift Card.  Also, in order to use those "Gift Card"s (meaning points) NH has their own online shopping site in which they can be used.

NH Bank offers a bankbook like all other banks. They have a bank debit card like all other banks and they have credit cards...yea. Like all other banks. I got one after 3 months of living here. I decided it was foolish to continually use my U.S. cards and then pay the wire transfer fees to pay them off. The Smarty card from NH is perfect for my young foolish ways. I get discounts on theme parks, coffee shops, movie theaters, online shopping, etc. 

NH has a fully functional English website for online banking and you can always call their customer service number and get an English speaker. My banker set up so much for me and even literally walked me over to the nearest SK shop to have them discount my mobile services. When my security certificate went faulty, my banker set it back up over my USB and set up my mobile phone banking apps. Is this love? You bet it is. NH and I will be together 'till end of contract do us part! *breathing heavily*

Now. How do I get some of that cake Jamasian? I don't share...
Just kidding. You'd better go into your local NH and look at their brochures! They have the lists of cards/services available written in plain Korean~~ hehe Honestly, some tellers will not trust your foreign self to pay on time or stay in the country but some will. So don't be afraid of the little farmer bank. Sometimes it's the little things that count. ;)

Visit The Main Site (Click: Global Banking: English)

Learn to Set It Up Yourself

Learn to Send Money Home Yourself

 

Their English help number is  1588-2100 ext. 730 press 1 for English

What I NEED Korea to STOP Doing to Me in Particular

Crystal Kay

Amerie

Insooni

#1 thing to shock me and cause me to pray: walking into my elem 1 school on the first day. Staff turns and says"...umm are you looking for your child?"

Wow madam. No blasians are running around this school right?

#2 thing that made me feel like the wind: old lady comes up and says "oh woooow are you a woman? *gropes me then says* "Oh you are a womaaan~~ you're so pretty and black!" *while petting me*

#3 thing to appall me: the same woman says "Do you have a man? *making a sign for male in Korean* "No? You need one to have babies!" 

0.0 (Let it be known that she asked the pharmacist for medicine to help me...concieve T.T I'm guessing that, but she asked for something "good for women". It's possible that I watch too many dramas.)

#4 thing to just make life awkward: co-teacher finds that I have no boyfriend in 7months yet. "Why not? I asked all the students for their brothers too! No good men in Suncheon? How old are you? Yea~~ you need to start looking~~!"

#5 thing to sadden me to no remedy: old man comes to sit at my lonely table in the middle of a half packed food court. "You live in Korea now? That's great! Did you marry a Korean?" T.T (Why is this sad? Because I wanted to say "If you're willing to let me marry {insert male celebrity} then by all means I will!!"

Junki Lee

Jisub So

Yuchun Park

Serious Gap From Elementary to Middle School

I came into this job working only at the middle school for one month straight. I had sensed that my 3rd graders (9th grade) were ok, but should have been better. 2nd graders (8th grade) were totally slackin' but possibly just shy. My 1st graders (7th grade) were on the ball. Not necessarily in knowing more vocab, but definitely in listening and trying to formulate sentences.

Fast forward. I finally have started my real schedule of going to the 2 elementary schools in the week. These kids are pretty much rockin' it. They have more enthusiasm too. They stick to simple sentences, but they are making sure to get them down packed! 

Of course since it's technically the new school year now, everyone's moved up a grade. I'll never see those wavering 9th graders again, but the 8th graders still suck and have kids in the class that totally disrupt anyone trying to learn. I will be making a seating chart for use starting next class. The 7th graders are just improving their butts off! lol We even joke in their class. Not all are good enough to understand the jokes, but I can feel it coming in due time.

So why did I make this post?

Because it seems to me like (at least in this area) Korea has lost a generation. Why are their 8th and 9th graders even moving up in the world? How? They don't know any of their subject well!! This was confirmed by my co-teacher today when I told her I was worried for the kids' futures. She just reluctantly replied that all of the teachers are! They have been doing poorly in ALL SUBJECTS! I don't understand.


Apparently no one showed those kids how hard life will be without wisdom and knowledge. No one has mentioned the differences between them and their juniors. The juniors will definitely be the ones to carry Korea on in the future, but first Korea will suffer the consequences of the mistakes made by the current 15-18yr olds. Now luckily for us in America seniority is not everything. Age is but a number in the case of choosing the better person for the job. Hence I feel like our students at least try their best and don't completely hold back other students from doing well. They accept that the better people will end up as their bosses.


Korea on the other hand seems to accept the even if the older person is wrong, they are still older and should have first pick. 0.0 I'm hoping I'm wrong, but this is what I've learned from word of mouth and books. Of course since times change, it's possible that they are working on a plan right now to try and circumvent that Confucian philosophy.

Graduation Day~~~~!

     This morning I wanted to catch the 2nd bus after my normal one, but of course it didn't show and I had to use the 3rd. I got to school around 9:30ish :(  I hopped on the computer not sure of what to do. Then I was informed that the ceremony was at 10.

     Ooooh so that's why all those people were at the gate. We went into the gym early and some parents/guardians were already there. It was only 30min long but I enjoyed seeing it. I took some pics and videos for the sake of celebration, but I only taught for one full month so I personally didn't feel connected to the kids...well I have made a small connection to the 1st yrs that took my camp. They seem used to me and tolerant of my intrusion in their lives.
We went to a dinner afterwards to celebrate. Maybe it's because I'm in the country but the main dishes were raw seafood. I can't eat much of it though. It's not nasty but I am not used to that texture.


     After we headed back to school. Possibly to finish the last hour of our 8hr shift -_-  but then they said I could go early. I went shopping for a few things, relaxed at home and then headed to my dance hagwon. I end up getting private lessons at one because he only does day classes. Either way it was cool. It's social dance.

     He wants to learn English too, but his son is an English teacher lol He should have studied with him :p

Lots of fooooood!
Graduation Dinner

Elementary One Week (Version 3)

     Today I spent 4hrs at elementary 2 and taught the 3rd and 4th graders...I think I just realized that I will teach 3rd-9th grade! Luckily over break I made lesson plans for 7th-9th. I finally get to look over the 5th and 6th books so I'm going to plan activities for half of their year too.

     These classes weren't too bad so I'm still thinking of how I want to teach them. The principal wanted me to do an open class but the middle is going to Jeju Mon-Wednesday and I told them I wanted to go too!

     After elementary I had to catch a bus to middle. It was so dangerous!! The bus stop's on a highway and there was no sidewalk for it! The whole time I was like "Don't hit me!" Mainly because in Asia being hit is way more dangerous than the states. Most people will keep going, others will also hit you if you're thrown in the way, or worse! (There are people that will hit you again to be sure you've died. This at least saves them from a possible lifetime of financial medical support. -_-)

     Anywho, I got to middle safely and did a bit of work/ research. Then it was time to head home. I tried to throw things in the wash, cook, and study a bit because I will be very busy for the next two weeks. Unfortunately 2hrs is barely enough time and I was rushing out to Japanese class. I'm happy to have somewhere to go and something to do. I like the people there too. I'm fairly proficient in Japanese and yet I the fact that I can't use English stumps me sometimes. For my other classmates, Japanese and Korean can be used. The high schooler can only help with English so much haha 

     I'm glad he's there though. Helps my argument when I tell people that some kids are working towards what they want in Hagwons. He added Japanese to his schedule because he likes it through and through.

Alright, gotta sleep and prepare for tomorrow. I can be a little late though because we are having the graduation ceremony and no classes.


Lunch at elem2  The dumpling on the rice is good! I find it funny how often they eat quail eggs here.