Oh eff...

The amount of times I hear the f-bomb dropped on a daily basis makes me feel like I work in a inner city school. I hardly curse, for me to hear that word and other words associated, makes me feel very angry and uncomfortable...but it's also kind of funny. It's funny because I know the Korean equivilant and sometimes will tell them what the f-bomb means. Their faces get read and they get very embarrassed and apologetic right away. The other thing is imagining what their parents would do if they heard them.

It's kind of refreshing in a twisted way. The naivete of the kids here on certain subjects is nice to have.

I have more but I'm going to eat dinner first. I think I'll post our Seoul trip in Ten pin, then just do a link on here if you're interested.

I'm busy and lazy

Okay, so there are a lot of new things I need to let everyone in on, but I was feeling under the weather last week. And haven't been in the writing mood for a little bit. I have just been pondering things over and keeping stuff inside. Ridiculous moments have been happening and making us wonder what really is the fate of our generation. Sorry it's been a bit but look forward to some long and insightful (if not a bit long drawn, although, I feel I'm actually really good with punctuation and grammar) sentiments.

School time, later.

Tummy Woes

So I had another tummy problem this week. Went to the cool Korean doctor who fixed me up with some medicine and I've felt pretty good since then.

I've just been thinking about stuff so until I feel I have my thoughts sorted out I'm going to refrain from letting it all out on the net. It's coming close to my end date, six more weeks! I can't believe it's so soon. A lot of my good friends are leaving soon too. Anyway, enough of the wishy washiness. I gotta pack for some Seoul searching.




p.s. if you understood the joke you can still be my friend.

Ides of March and Cheezburgers!

So bad things happened on March 15th. Just to name drop, Ceaser... but today, there will be none of that. Plus, nothing really happened lately. Okay, actually I have a great video of my friend's birthday but it isn't uploaded yet. So, lets just have some fun with LolCats! If you don't know LolCats are from this website I can has cheezburger. Its just random pictures of cats with captions in relaly bad grammar. It's the perfect time waster, and it makes you giggle a whole bunch!

Take it as you might

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. ~Blaise Pascal

A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. ~Author Unknown

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. ~Martin Luther King Jr.


* I don't buy the idea that there is no God. How can you explain natural beauty as just chemical reactions and science?"

I was confirmed about a year ago by the Catholic Church. It was a especially trying time this year due to the fact it was the first year, in probably five that I didn't go to an Ash Wednesday service. I'm not a super Catholic and would never feign to be. But, due to certain life events (the death of two friends and two grandfathers I was very close to, and small epiphanies along the way) I have come to appreciate faith. Coincidentally going to a Baptist affiliated college was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I didn't particularly enjoy going to Baptist services. I felt a lot of times there was a rift between those who were "Bible beaters" trying to beat God into you, those who didn't practice a religion, and those who said they were religious yet partook in underage drinking, sex and other things not very Christian like. Hypocrisy is easily most evident when studying those who label themselves as devout, practicing Christianity...Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and other religions of those radical enough to persecute those who are non religious are just as bad.

I believe that faith is something that can't be visibly shown, nor should you singing songs at the top of your lungs and going to religious student groups make you any more devout than the person who prays quietly in their room.

I do feel that school at Wingate helped me to feel it was OK to be religious. I honestly admire those who are true to their religion. Those who do not make others feel bad that they don't practice or are not as devout. It takes a lot of courage. A lot of my teachers may not have been religious, or maybe they were and I didn't know. Whatever the case I feel that having religion as a small part of my formal education gave my schooling a special feeling. I felt the teachers knew they had a purpose, they weren't just doing this for the money or prestige. There was a mission to give their knowledge to those willing to take the challenge. Part of that challenge is discovering who you are. Knowing yourself. Hopefully I can explain this better one day in the future.


Without faith I don't think that I'd have done half of the things I have done or hope to accomplish. I want to have a nice nest egg but (much to my parent's chagrin) money for me isn't everything. Basically I want to help people. You can't take money with you when you die, You don't really even take memories. But if you leave people with a legacy, then you truly have succeeded.
























Why would God have created mankind if he were only to focus on himself? Helping others, giving of yourself, it's the only way to make you feel whole.

To Be

Today in class we were talking about the present tense. I was having a hard time because it seems the previous teachers neglected to actually teach them this concept and thus, they had no idea what I was talking about. It was more upsetting because these kids are in middle school and have studied English since they were in 3rd grade.

I tried to get them to form a sentence with Be. Very simple, "I am happy, I am sad, I am a student" type sentences. I think it was more difficult for them because in the Korean language you don't use grammar that way. It's a Subject Object Verb set up; this is in conflict with the Subject Verb Object of English. So saying "I am happy," is "I happy am," in Korean. Yoda talk if you may. This concept on present tense was very hard for this particular class to comprehend and I wasn't sure if it was a culture thing (seeing I had been teaching a lot of grammar this past week, where I don't think you get as much out of it when it's taught in a different language, because concepts are lost in translation) or this class was particularly slow.

I want to go with the later of my two options seeing that I have students also in middle school picking up present tense very quickly. And so as a teacher I feel sort of like I'm failing them, even though technically it's the Korean teacher failing to explain English concepts to them, so that when they have class with me they remember the lesson from the Korean teacher.

It's also very interesting how we attach very significant meaning to such a small set of words. I am, you are, he she it is, we are, you are (pl) they are. So many different combinations can come out of these words it's endless. We can say how we are feeling, how old we are, if we've found that special someone. Present tense is really amazing in its simplicity, and how we can take a complex idea and whittle it down to the most simple sentence.

Also interesting is how we put ourselves in boxes and define ourselves with such simplicity. "I am a doctor, I am a student," We (especially those in our twenties and especially Americans) love to label ourselves. It's as if having something interesting on the end of "I am" will show how well you're doing for yourself. That you're going places and living the "American Dream." Yes, if you can't contract what you're doing into condensed phrases people will get bored and not listen to you. But, on the other hand I feel that if you're really doing something worthwhile, and you really feel it defines the "I am" question one shouldn't be able to sum it up in one sentence.

We're so lucky in the English language to have hundreds of thousands of words to use. They describe how we feel, what we're doing and why we think a certain way, native speakers most certainly take this vocabulary for granted. Most people who have English as a second language say that they have so much more freedom to express how they feel because of all the words they can use.

To be, or not to be--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.

Hamlet. Act III, scene i

If you don't know, I absolutely love Renaissance theater. And so it's only fitting to end with an excerpt from the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. If you want to read the entire monologue go for it. It's a beautiful soliloquy and an amazing show of how exquisite the English language can be. Starting at "To be."

49 days...oh yea and Evan gets to buy me candy

So the posters keep popping up around school. It's also getting a bit odd because there's this guy just smiling at me all the time. I also learned that if I buy $5.50 worth of stuff at Dunkin I too can have a poster!

Beyond the posters keeping me entertained, I have started taking an online TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. So far I haven't learned anything new since being in the classroom. I guess these 10 or 11 months have taught me the ins and outs of EFL (or ESL or whatever you want to call it) classroom teaching. Because I've taken several foreign languages and advanced English classes I already knew a lot of grammar terminology, which has also presented itself in the book. The course has been pretty good giving a few new ideas here and there. However, some ideas such as group work (at least in Korea) are ideas founded by those not in the classroom: Korean students don't like to make mistakes, so unless they are very comfortable they wont speak up in class and definitely wont do group work. It's also they'll just speak in their native tongue...

I already have finished two of the modules and am on the third. My next step is taking a midterm. I'm not too sure what it involved but I'm sure I'll do well seeing I have experience and retain information well, so I wont be studying completely new stuff. I'm excited about completing the course. This means that I can teach basically anywhere once I get it. Most countries require you have a degree and TEFL to teach. So now if I want to go to Japan or Europe or South America I can. I can also ask for more money and benefits.

Also if you didn't know...(which I didn't and I live here) March 14th is White day. Now, as funny as that sounds from a country that is obsessed with all things western. It has nothing to do with race or culture, well ook consumer culture, yes. It started in Japan, because it's traditional that women give men chocolate on Valentine's Day in Japan and Korea. So because of this, the candy industry thought, "Why isn't there a day men can give women candy, then it's Valentine sales all over again!" So one month after Valentine's Day is White Day.

Lucky me, oh that's also why there are posters at Dunkin.

Korea Runs On Dunkin

It seems these past two weeks, Monday has been a day of discovery. Last week I discovered the level of laziness in my office. Yesterday I discovered I literally work with women whose level of maturity is at that of a teenage girl. Koreans, especially Korean women love coffee shops. It's where they go talk and gossip. And you thought Krispy Kreme had a good following. Sort of like when women in America go have dinner or like my mother, go walking every week with a friend. I personally like shopping...way too much.

Anyway, in our town we have a Dunkin Donuts. It's always packed with people especially women. Now everyday my coworkers go get coffee for the day. Usually Dunkin coffee, they then are able to start their day. Yesterday they come back with posters of a Dunkin spokesman, which they decide to hang up at the school. One in her classroom and one above her desk. Literally I almost laughed outloud at the parallel between a teen girls bedroom and our school. The one where he is holding donuts is an actual poster in our school. We don't have him in a tux yet...if only.

Granted he is very good looking. I forgot his name but students said he is a Korean drama actor. And do they love dramas. I guess I should do more research, so as to know who is "hanging" out in my school.


This just reminds me of college where the guys would put posters of girls and the girls posters of guys. I guess I'm a weirdo and had posters of swimmers, surfers, Classic movie stars and inspirational stuff. Looking beyond that, seeing a poster does make you a little less angry to be somehwere you don't want to be. It's nice to giggle.

Oh life and surprises.

Aspire

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given then to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."


I read in a paper once that Michelle Obama was never one to give out compliments in law school because she had a "That's what you're supposed to do" attitude. I definitely feel that same way about things. This can be seen as good or bad. It takes a lot to impress me, I don't like models or celebrities or even pictures sometimes because makeup can make anyone look good. Getting good grades is always a good thing, but can someone apply that knowledge or did they just cram? I'm a bit ciritical at times and it's because: I have friends who I've seen at morning practice at 6am and right after a swim meet who look gorgeous, no makeup, no photoshopping or good lighting. I have friends that get stellar grades and couldn't get a job because of lack of experiance and friends who got good grades and have an awesome job because they could apply what they knew.


Great people didn't become great because they were told they're doing awesome all the time. They had hardship and pain, but they also had something they wanted to aspire to. The worst and best example is Adolf Hitler. He got rejected by a girl, art school and almost was killed in WWI. He is part of an inept government and is able to raise Germany up from the ashes of the past...and then become one of the most evil men ever to live. On a more politically correct note (Also, I'm not saying in anyway what Hitler did was good because genocide of any group of people is wrong and I'm glad that the allies prevaild...go America!) take Albert Einstien. He failed fourth grade math and everyone called him stupid when he was little...Megan Quann 2000 Olympic swimmer. When she first started swimming she could barely make it one lap of the pool and needed to stop every few yards to rest. She was forced to swim with six and seven year olds.

So aspiring to something wheather is be a goal or status isn't about how many compliments you get or how much support you get along the way, but how you see challenges. It's that reason that I have a hard time communicating with people younger than me. As stated in my last post, a lot of people in my generation and younger don't understand that if you want to do something do it on your own terms. If you need money, get a job, if you want to be on a sports team, practice until you're so weak you're shaking and can't see in front of your face because it's so dark.

I feel alot of people expect to have help along the way, and sometimes you have to go it by yourself. I'm lucky enough to have parents who have taught me to think and be myself. I'd like to say they possess a lof of Southern values, even if they aren't from the South. For example, if I wanted to do something like swimming, I did it with their help because they saw I had talent and it was a passion. But if I wanted to go somewhere, I paid for it because being self sufficient is also something they wanted me to learn.

So I did get help along the way, as did a lot of my college classmates. But, maybe going to school in the South, we all learned to aspire. I have debutants as friends and sorority sisters. They have trust funds, an entire wardrobe of Lilly, Polo, Lacoste and REAL Louis bags. Yet, they went to college and have jobs in something they love doing and part of that is that they love being on their own. Freedom is more important to them than having money.

And so, it is a surprise that I like teaching because most kids and teenagers and even my generation don't really choose to aspire and it's depressing. But, when you have those kids who do want to do something special, then it's all worth it.

Economy Woes of the Jobless

Let's hear it for America's Sweetehearts But I must confess I'm in love with my own sins
Fall Out Boy, America's Suitehearts

So if you're an up to date person and have noticed that...the economy is bad, hopefully you're more aware of how much things are and being responsible. I speak a little hipocritically seeing that I still enjoy a well made outfit to the bargin brand (I haven't grown in height since high school, I'm a size 0 and probably will be the rest of my life. So when I buy clothes I buy them with the idea I'm buying this to wear for the long haul.) and will get a nice meal once a week. But I don't buy chachkis or as many beauty things as I did, and I'm really good with groceries as well.

It's a bit upsetting just a few years ago people my age were getting jobs with relative ease and spending money as if there were no end not caring about cost. I have read that there are people like that still out there, teenagers who don't realize the enormity of this situation. And they continue to spend, spend, spend. But sadly they'll learn one day.

The exchange rate is now $1 to $1.56 and in no way looking like it'll be changing anytime soon due to the fact the Korean government actually WANTS to keep the exchange rate low so as to get foreign investors and export goods cheaply. Which is stupid, and especially bad for all of the foreigners. But it is still a job and if you don't have one it's a good place to go to get experiance and make money, so long as you're smart about it.

I'm not in the states so I'm not sure how bad it is but, I do know a bunch of people who have jobs and who are getting new jobs or promotions, so yes, it's hard to get a job: I find though that if you're qualified for a job and not seeking a ridiculous starting salary the jobs are there. It seems to me that those who have graduated in the last few years are still living in the time of asking for big starting salaries and getting them. Which is a time gone by in this day and age.

Also, it seems that (not to boast or anything) but when I was laid off last year, I was still getting phone calls for interviews and had several job offers, so I feel it's also not that there are no jobs; the jobs are just going to the most qualified candidates. These companies are in a tight situation and can't afford to "groom" a new employee as much as they could in the past. Yes, good grades are important and in no way am I downplaying that. I'm simply saying that putting what you learned into action is now the most important aspect for employers. Those who have retained information and can put those skills into use. I'm mainly speaking for liberal arts educations, most of those in technical of specialized degreees such as engineering or the medical feild will always have jobs, because we'll always need them.

Bill Maher had a good visual of the housing situation on home values. There was another one but I forget what it was on. The point is, shouldn't someone have seen that...I don't know there was a ridiculous spike in housing value and it was too good tp be true??? I'm no expert but, it makes sense to me.

I guess that's all we can do right now, is stick to the things that makes sense. Take risks still yes, but be responsible for what you're doing. It's one thing to want to own a house or go on a trip, but it's an entirely different thing to take out a mortgage you can't afford or borrow money from someone to finance it.

Montag, lundi, lunes, hwal, Monday

So another Monday came and went, not too much going on. I experienced the completely laziness of either all of the teachers ar my school or the administration. Basically think of two rooms side by side separated by a wall. Now to get to one room you must walk out of the one your are in, walk into the hallway, make a left and then turn left again into the next room. It takes about ten seconds to do this. However, due to inconvenience a door is being crafted from a hole in the wall of the one room to the next, because God forbid we get a little exercise!

That is my Monday story of ridiculousness.