Korean people place SO much importance on relationships. I believe that relationships are also important - relationships with your parents; relationships with your friends; relationships with your co-workers; relationships with your students (in my case), etc. There was one relationship that I did not mention - the romantic relationship. Koreans put so much stress on this. I feel it is probably at the top of their priority list (if they are single). It's quite ridiculous. Not only is this on their list, YOUR relationship status is also on their list. It's actually quite annoying that they believe romantic relationships are THAT important, only because I don't think it's a priority. It's an accoutrement in your life. You don't NEED it. You WANT it.
So, back to why it's annoying/frustrating, especially coming from other females. I feel like they don't understand that they are sufficient without a man. So, this past weekend, I saw my Korean friend and she asked me how I was doing. I told her I was "wonderful"! She said, "Oh really? Are you dating?" Why does that have to be the first thing that comes to mind when I say I'm doing well? Could it possibly be that I finally feel I'm doing well at work? That I've been having fun with my friends? I guess in the Korean perspective, those are just peripheral relationships orbiting around the romance that is the sun.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Halloween redux
I forgot to say that I've been teaching Halloween to all my students the week before Halloween. I started off by saying we were learning about houses. I told them to name 5 different rooms in a house. Then I told them that I'm gonna show them a photo. They have to tell me what room it is, what they see, and what is wrong with the room. Here's the photo:
http://www.tekzoned.com/whatswrong/
This was their reaction:
On actual Halloween Day, I went for a hike at Mudeung. I had been planning to go hiking that Sunday for the whole week beforehand, so I'm glad I actually got off my butt to go. It's nice cuz I can just take one bus to get to the base of the mountain! I wore shorts and EVERYONE was staring at me. It was a nice day for shorts! Geez! Stop looking at me! I only had 2 people ask me, "Not cold?" and I said, "Aniyo." No. Though as I neared the top, it was getting really windy! But I could handle it! As I was going up, I was thinking to myself, "I LOVE hiking! I should do this more often in Korea!" I went hiking pretty regularly in LA, but sadly, not in Korea. Plus, it is getting really cold now, so I had to get in one last hike! I got to the top this time! The first I went to Mudeung, we only made it to the second highest peak, I think. But this time, I made it all the way up! It was great! Especially doing it alone. It felt wonderful! However, just like on Mt. Fuji, as I was going down, I was thinking to myself, "I hate hiking!" It's just so tough on the knees! I hate going down a mountain. Going up is fine! I can up for hours and hours! But going down a mountain...it's deadly! But I had such a great time with nature :)
http://www.tekzoned.com/whatswrong/
This was their reaction:
On actual Halloween Day, I went for a hike at Mudeung. I had been planning to go hiking that Sunday for the whole week beforehand, so I'm glad I actually got off my butt to go. It's nice cuz I can just take one bus to get to the base of the mountain! I wore shorts and EVERYONE was staring at me. It was a nice day for shorts! Geez! Stop looking at me! I only had 2 people ask me, "Not cold?" and I said, "Aniyo." No. Though as I neared the top, it was getting really windy! But I could handle it! As I was going up, I was thinking to myself, "I LOVE hiking! I should do this more often in Korea!" I went hiking pretty regularly in LA, but sadly, not in Korea. Plus, it is getting really cold now, so I had to get in one last hike! I got to the top this time! The first I went to Mudeung, we only made it to the second highest peak, I think. But this time, I made it all the way up! It was great! Especially doing it alone. It felt wonderful! However, just like on Mt. Fuji, as I was going down, I was thinking to myself, "I hate hiking!" It's just so tough on the knees! I hate going down a mountain. Going up is fine! I can up for hours and hours! But going down a mountain...it's deadly! But I had such a great time with nature :)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Fireworks, Fright, Flowers, Friends, Freaken students, & Pepero
It's been a month and I haven't blogged! Woopsie daisies! This is horrible! My memory will probably fail me as I write this post. I hope I can remember everything...for my sake. Let me see...what I have done, what has happened. Busan, Halloween, Chrysanthemum Festival, having the worst class in the school...
First, Busan! I went to Busan for the Fireworks Festival! I feel like it is one of the most popular festivals in this land of festivals. Seriously, Korea has festivals for EVERYTHING - sand, kimchi, ice, fire, butterflies, ceramics, fireflies, mud, and the list goes on and on! Kinda ridiculous, but it also gives options for the people living in Korea. Anyway, the fireworks festival was AMAZING! The best fireworks show I've ever seen. So amazing! Before the festival, I wanted to go to the largest temple in Busan, but Jarrod said his friend had told him about one that is by the ocean, so we opted for that one instead. What a good choice! It was beautiful!
Next, Halloween! For Halloween, I was planning on dressing up as an ajumma, an old Korean woman, but not quite a grandma. Then, I wanted to be a cat because it's an easy costume. Then I decided it was too difficult to do the cat makeup, so I settled on being a nerd. Such an easy costume. I wore a version of my costume to school, with two pig tails. The kids loved it. They would come up to me and say, "You are cute! I mean, you are cutie." My co-teacher later told me that she thought that I was just following some sort of trend. hahah Then, on Saturday, a friend had a Halloween party/potluck at her place. There was also a mini-Halloween costume contest in which I, along with a friend, won for best couple's costume. We didn't plan on coordinating costumes, but we just so happened to both be nerds. He was a scary, joker-like nerd, and I was a traditional nerd with suspenders and tape on my glasses. Nonetheless, we won by default due to the lack of couple's costumes. Afterwards, we went barhopping downtown. The usual. Twas fun!
This past weekend, Ann and I went to the Chrysanthemum Festival in Hampyeong, which is just a half hour bus ride from Gwangju. At first, we saw no chrysanthemums, just a bunch of cacti. A LOT of cacti. We were beginning to think we were at the wrong festival! After the cacti, we saw fish, butterflies, beetles, and other various insects that were creeping me out! Eventually, we found our way to some gorgeous chrysanthemums, which were emblazoned with butterflies and bees. What a joy.
Last Friday, my friends' band, Deserts, was having a show at Speakeasy. This was their first show since the drummer, Brian, returned. He and his girlfriend had gone traveling around Asia because their teaching contracts had ended and they didn't renew, much to their dismay. After their trips, they came back to Korea and the boys decided to have a mini-tour around Korea. That show was the best show I had seen them play. I missed seeing Brian on the drums. He's such a passionate musician. It was a fun show!
Then on Saturday, a few friends and I went to watch the movie, Red, with Bruce Willis. It was pretty good! I enjoyed it, but then again, I'm not much of a movie critic. I like everything! Even if it's bad! Oh, this was the night after the Chrysanthemum Festival. My brain is all types of disorganized.
Wednesday is when I have to teach the worst class in the history of this school. I didn't teach from the book; I planned my own "fun" lesson - listening to a song, filling in the blanks, circle the correct word, etc. The students usually like to do this because they get to hear a song and not a teacher talking. I tried to do this lesson with the class, but NO ONE was listening. NO. ONE. I restarted the song several times, but still, no one was paying attention. I stopped the song and said, "OK, no one is listening, so no lesson today. You will write sentences for the entire class." I got some, "Sorry teacher! One more chance!" Nope, sorry, turn your paper over. I asked them, "What color is this paper?" "White. " "Good, when you are done writing sentences, it will be black." I had them write standards for the rest of the class, about half an hour. Some of them "finished", I told them there was too much white space and to write between the already written sentences. If they wrote in pencil, I erased it and told them to do it again. They're a horrible class. I'll just have to see if they pay attention in the next class.
Oh, and today is Pepero Day in Korea. Pepero is basically an imitation of Pocky. It's still just as delicous! Pepero Day was created by Pepero, and it's so smart! For Pepero Day, they have special merchandise, like Pepero pillows, Pepero gift baskets/bags, giant-sized pepero. It's kinda ridiculous, but I love it! I love pepero! I've gotten a few gifts today, a couple from the students who have to sneak it to me because they're not allowed to bring it to school or something..? I'm not sure, but I had a student write me a note along with a box of pepero. It's only 2 sentences of English and the rest is Korean. So cute though! Pepero Day...there should be a Pocky Day in America. November 11 - 11/11. Next year will be EXTREME Pepero Day! 11/11/11.
First, Busan! I went to Busan for the Fireworks Festival! I feel like it is one of the most popular festivals in this land of festivals. Seriously, Korea has festivals for EVERYTHING - sand, kimchi, ice, fire, butterflies, ceramics, fireflies, mud, and the list goes on and on! Kinda ridiculous, but it also gives options for the people living in Korea. Anyway, the fireworks festival was AMAZING! The best fireworks show I've ever seen. So amazing! Before the festival, I wanted to go to the largest temple in Busan, but Jarrod said his friend had told him about one that is by the ocean, so we opted for that one instead. What a good choice! It was beautiful!
Next, Halloween! For Halloween, I was planning on dressing up as an ajumma, an old Korean woman, but not quite a grandma. Then, I wanted to be a cat because it's an easy costume. Then I decided it was too difficult to do the cat makeup, so I settled on being a nerd. Such an easy costume. I wore a version of my costume to school, with two pig tails. The kids loved it. They would come up to me and say, "You are cute! I mean, you are cutie." My co-teacher later told me that she thought that I was just following some sort of trend. hahah Then, on Saturday, a friend had a Halloween party/potluck at her place. There was also a mini-Halloween costume contest in which I, along with a friend, won for best couple's costume. We didn't plan on coordinating costumes, but we just so happened to both be nerds. He was a scary, joker-like nerd, and I was a traditional nerd with suspenders and tape on my glasses. Nonetheless, we won by default due to the lack of couple's costumes. Afterwards, we went barhopping downtown. The usual. Twas fun!
This past weekend, Ann and I went to the Chrysanthemum Festival in Hampyeong, which is just a half hour bus ride from Gwangju. At first, we saw no chrysanthemums, just a bunch of cacti. A LOT of cacti. We were beginning to think we were at the wrong festival! After the cacti, we saw fish, butterflies, beetles, and other various insects that were creeping me out! Eventually, we found our way to some gorgeous chrysanthemums, which were emblazoned with butterflies and bees. What a joy.
Last Friday, my friends' band, Deserts, was having a show at Speakeasy. This was their first show since the drummer, Brian, returned. He and his girlfriend had gone traveling around Asia because their teaching contracts had ended and they didn't renew, much to their dismay. After their trips, they came back to Korea and the boys decided to have a mini-tour around Korea. That show was the best show I had seen them play. I missed seeing Brian on the drums. He's such a passionate musician. It was a fun show!
Then on Saturday, a few friends and I went to watch the movie, Red, with Bruce Willis. It was pretty good! I enjoyed it, but then again, I'm not much of a movie critic. I like everything! Even if it's bad! Oh, this was the night after the Chrysanthemum Festival. My brain is all types of disorganized.
Wednesday is when I have to teach the worst class in the history of this school. I didn't teach from the book; I planned my own "fun" lesson - listening to a song, filling in the blanks, circle the correct word, etc. The students usually like to do this because they get to hear a song and not a teacher talking. I tried to do this lesson with the class, but NO ONE was listening. NO. ONE. I restarted the song several times, but still, no one was paying attention. I stopped the song and said, "OK, no one is listening, so no lesson today. You will write sentences for the entire class." I got some, "Sorry teacher! One more chance!" Nope, sorry, turn your paper over. I asked them, "What color is this paper?" "White. " "Good, when you are done writing sentences, it will be black." I had them write standards for the rest of the class, about half an hour. Some of them "finished", I told them there was too much white space and to write between the already written sentences. If they wrote in pencil, I erased it and told them to do it again. They're a horrible class. I'll just have to see if they pay attention in the next class.
Oh, and today is Pepero Day in Korea. Pepero is basically an imitation of Pocky. It's still just as delicous! Pepero Day was created by Pepero, and it's so smart! For Pepero Day, they have special merchandise, like Pepero pillows, Pepero gift baskets/bags, giant-sized pepero. It's kinda ridiculous, but I love it! I love pepero! I've gotten a few gifts today, a couple from the students who have to sneak it to me because they're not allowed to bring it to school or something..? I'm not sure, but I had a student write me a note along with a box of pepero. It's only 2 sentences of English and the rest is Korean. So cute though! Pepero Day...there should be a Pocky Day in America. November 11 - 11/11. Next year will be EXTREME Pepero Day! 11/11/11.
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