Just last week I got an e-mail from my original recruiter, Scot, at Adventure Teaching, asking if I would take the time to talk about my job with a potential DYB new hire. While I've been putting off any sort of summary/wrap-up/lessons learned until I'm outta here and truly have time to reflect, I thought this would be a great opportunity to sort of step back and objectively examine the position I've managed to hold on to for a year now! To be honest I never thought I'd be offering insight to others about Korea as I myself still feel clueless, but here I am doing just that!
So, as long as I took the time to write the e-mail I figured I'd share it with you as well, ya know, just in case you're considering taking up a position at DYB's Juinggye Branch!
Below you'll find a modest evaluation and summary of, well, what exactly I've been up to since last fall. . .
____________^^___________
Hi Scot and James,
I'd be happy to answer any specific questions that James might have and if it'd be possible, it might be easier to simply give me a call (010) 8450-2258. If you're not in Korea yet James, it's real easy and cheap to make the call via Skype.
If that's not going to be possible, let me give you a little bit of background on the position that your consider as it seems to be the one that I'll be vacating in the next few weeks.
My experience at DYB as a company was fantastic. I was always paid in full and on time which, from what I've heard, is not always the case anywhere else. The staff was extremely helpful in helping me get settled in, getting my Alien Resident Card (ARC), setting up a bank account and making monthly payments into my Pension account and Health Care plan.
I was able to take my 10 allotted vacation days whenever I chose and they in fact offered unforeseen flexibility in allowing me to chose the dates. For example, changing my flight last and vacation days last minute when I realized I didnt' have the necessary paperwork to get into China. Oops!
That said, the downtime at DYB is, well, limited! Other than the 10 paid vacation days, there are only three other days off in the entire year. One for Chuseok and two for Lunar New Years. So, expect to be working and kept busy. If you're looking for a job when you can become a modern backpacking jetsetter and take off for an exotic destination every few months, this job will likely not allow that!
Okay, the job itself. I very much enjoyed working at the Junggye campus of DYB where I put in a full year. This in and of itself says something of the job as many people, even within the company, were continually moved around due to somebody's unhappiness. The staff and teachers at Junggye are easy to work with and the atmosphere is much more inviting then some other branches and hagwons. Then again, it pays befriend those in charge and I put in effort doing so right at the beginning, per the advice of the previous teachers.
Anna (A-Young), the head teacher at Junggye is wonderful to work with and will always try to be helpful though it often is difficult to see at first. My first day on the job I was handed a book and told to go 'teach.' 11 months later, nothing really has ever been clarified for me. I have never been given a list of expectations or goals and as far as I know, I'm not accountable for, well, anything really.
This has it's benefits and disadvantages obviously. For me, it was often frustrating walking from class to class to teach a room full of students whom I was totally disconnected from. As a Native Teachers, you will meet with the kids only once or twice a week which means that you're often left out of the loop as to what they're really learning with the majority of their time. This can make it hard to integrate the material that you are presenting but can also be good because it gives you the freedom to do your own thing for an hour or two.
As a previous Foreign Teacher put it, it's a real 'cushy' job. You don't have any real lesson planning and the most important thing is simply that you show up on time and look presentable. Do these things and you'll cruise through fine.
DYB also offers an 'evalution' and potential raise after the first month, followed by a six month evaluation and subsequent raise. This is definitely a bonus and really starts to add up. As a first year teacher without privates, I didn't meet a single teacher who made more than I did without working multiple jobs! Not a bad deal!
I really am still unfamiliar with the whole job opportunity scene in Korea as I was picked up by DYB first and spent the entirety of my one year in Korea there. Would I go back to DYB if I were to do it again?
As a first year teacher? Definitely, the ease of the job and amount of the money you take home at the end of the day makes it totally worth it.
Knowing what I know now? Maybe not, simply because I can stand the lack of accountability and simply not knowing what is expected from me. I'm a very goal oriented person and it was really hard for me to work at a job where I felt like I didn't accomplish anything at the end of the day other than bringing home the bacon.
Horror stories from DYB? Not one! Hilarious ones? Plenty! Mr. Lee, whom you will likely interview with or have already spoken to is without a doubt one of the most absurd characters I have ever met in my life. He takes it upon himself to keep up Foreign Teacher morale throughout the company and always manages to do so in surprisingly interesting ways! You won't get bored of the DYB Family (as it's called) as long as you keep a positive attitude!
Good Luck and I'll likely see you soon in Junggye!
Please feel free to e-mail or call me with any questions or concerns you might have!
Hope this helps!
-Adam
Showing posts with label DYB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DYB. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Raid
For the second consecutive day we are being sent home before 10:00pm as the police are coming to 'raid' our academy. According to Korean law, hagwons are not allowed to operate after ten o'clock in the evening. Ours, DYB Choisun Academy, and numerous others show blatant disregard for this statute and stay open much later.
The penalty for being 'caught' is unbeknownst to me but I can't really imagine it being that harsh as nothing in Korea seems to penalized all that seriously. Except of course for making poor grades on mid-term test. However, I don't hesitate to wonder just what would happen if one of the raiding officers took it upon themselves to actually examine one of the numerous schedules posted around the building that clearly evince our illegal hour of operation. . .hmmm.
I have no idea how we know about these 'raids' but I suppose it's good for business that someone is informed ahead of time. Whether this is done intentionally or rather behind close doors, as some suggest, it means only one thing for us FT's. . .going home early!
So, without further ado, I'm outta here!
Happy Weekend!
The penalty for being 'caught' is unbeknownst to me but I can't really imagine it being that harsh as nothing in Korea seems to penalized all that seriously. Except of course for making poor grades on mid-term test. However, I don't hesitate to wonder just what would happen if one of the raiding officers took it upon themselves to actually examine one of the numerous schedules posted around the building that clearly evince our illegal hour of operation. . .hmmm.
I have no idea how we know about these 'raids' but I suppose it's good for business that someone is informed ahead of time. Whether this is done intentionally or rather behind close doors, as some suggest, it means only one thing for us FT's. . .going home early!
So, without further ado, I'm outta here!
Happy Weekend!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
300 Down!
As you might have guessed from the above title, today marks my 300th day in Korea! This is exciting not only because it's such a pretty round number but because it means that I have (approximately) only 65 days left here in the Hermit Kingdom. In order to honor this momentous event, I figured I owe at least some sort of update. Not having anything extraordinary planned to mark this hallowed day, what you'll find below is simply a concoction of recent, yet unreported events. Bear with me here!
First on the list are the events that transpired this past weekend under the guise of a DYB 'membership training' seminar. Early last week, I was approached by Anna about two issues. The first was that we were to begin an office wide Secret Santa like game, maniddo, where each teacher is supposed to surreptitiously shower another with gifts assistance and praise. Of course, my initial question was how this is supposed to remain a secret as the later two seemingly require some sort of interpersonal interaction. Unable to find anyone willing to answer my question, I quickly gave up on the matter figuring it would be to my maniddos disadvantage if they didn't take the time to explain it to me!
Turns out I was lucky enough to draw Terry which made associating with my maniddo less strenuous as I had imagined it could be had I chosen one of our numerous employees that I simply do not interact with on a daily basis. To get my showering of gifts over with quickly I simply asked Terry to come out for chicken and beer (if you haven't figured it out by know, this a Korean standard, don't ask why, it just is) and insisted on picking up the check. This was not an all together easy feat as she out ranks me in both age and status which, in this Confucian society, means that I am in no way obliged to be covering the tab. Even so, I was able to complete my mini-mission and make it even more convincing by talking the whole time about how I don't know what to do for my maniddo. How mendacious of me, right!?
The second matter of business that Anna addressed us all about on Tuesday was the weekend's upcoming 'membership training' seminar. While few details were disclosed at that time, Anna insisted that it would have three parts, 'dinner,' a 'serious part,' and then lastly the intemperate 'drunken part.' The one thing that was made clear was that sleep would be limited. As exciting as it sounded to get out of Seoul for the weekend, you can imagine how unappealing such an offer is when limited sleeping (usually my favorite weekend activity) is promised along with the company of only coworkers (those that I certainly, no offense, get enough of during the work week).
Come Saturday I was feeling confident about my maniddo responsibilities as I had slipped Terry a movie theater sized box of Skittles (thanks Dad) and a Starbucks gift card (or 'money check' as they refer to them here) during the course of the week. While she questioned me about it once, I quickly denied any knowledge of the gift bearer. As for me, I received a few kinda sticky notes accompanied by a delicious bottle of apple juice, and odd rice drink and on Friday, a package of chocolate covered nuts accompanied by a rather prurient love note. The later 'gift' sent me reeling as the grammatically incorrect ballad read like a veritable Korean translation making me question whether it was a joke or a terribly unrestrained lustful confession. Nevertheless, the letter assured me that my paramour would come forth on Saturday evening. . . now I really had something to look forward too!
After grabbing lunch with Steve in Itaewon, Nate and I headed back towards Junggye to get ready for our 6:00pm departure. Not wanting to miss my final soccer game of the season, I stuffed my backpack full of cleats and uniforms, leaving little room for anything else. I hoped, and was correct, in that it didn't matter. One thing I did bring however was my bathing suit as Terry had called the night before to let Nate and I know that we might go tubing during the 'camping trip.' I asked her if that meant we should bring bathing suits to which she responded 'No, just a change of clothes.'
This is hilariously indicative of Korean's conservative attitudes towards revealing ones body in public. While they (yes, I know this is a generalization but you find a better way to say what I'm trying to say) refuse to expose themselves on a beach or under the warm summer sun, these same people have no problem stripping down and walking around jimjilbangs (saunas/spas) in the buff, sharing showers, baths, and coffee all while completely naked. Yet, try to take your shirt off while tubing on a river and one is instantly made to feel ignominious. Just ask Nate!
What a shocking move!
(Photo courtesy of NMK Studios)
So, with a backpack stuffed with nothing of real use I met up with the teachers just as they were exiting DYB headed for a small shuttle bus that normal whips our students to and fro academy in the evenings. In their matching shirts, I couldn't help but chuckle at the seriousness with which this outing seemed to be taken. Apparently, 'teams' had already be chosen and sides were represented by one of two colored smiley face t's. . .see below for a visual.
Dddd Yy Bb!
(Photo courtesy of NMK Studios)
A two hour cramped bus ride later and we were dumped out into the remote darkness of Pyeonchang. Not only did I later learn that we weren't too far from the ski resort that we had visited over Lunar New Year but that the city is currently trying to put in an official bid for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Not sure where they'd host any of the downhill events but it's Korea, I'm sure they'll find a way!
Loadin' up
(Photo courtesy of NMK Studios)
After unloading all our luggage (or lack there of, most of the Korean teachers brought nothing more than a decent sized purse) into the 'homey' four bedroom cabin, we headed outside to a long picnic table for a very traditional work related dinner. While food and beverage were abound, the main difference was that we did not cook the food directly at our table but rather Joseph (who we were happy to have accompany us on this trip despite no longer working at Junggye) and one of DYB's higher lever managers (who is also apparently our 'branch supervisor') cooked the samgyeopsal over two freestanding charcoal grills. Even so, dinner was delicious and excessive as always.
Joseph and I working hard to get dinner ready!
As everyone began reaching their personal satiety, the focused shifted from dinner to one of two 'serious parts' of the weekend. In this phase of the evening, each person had to stand and covertly describe their maniddo while the others tried to guess who it was. Then the maniddo had to take the stage and praise the work of their personal agent. This continued on for some time as each pair was forced to take a 'love shot' (or two) of soju. The only thing I gained from this experience was the knowledge that my licentious love note was in fact a joke that had nothign to do with my maniddo but rather was planted by Razer to arouse suspicion. This was by far the funniest thing that I have seen a Korean execute that didn't involve self humiliation in some way, shape, or form.
The Spread!
Growing extremely tired of the repetitive nature of these speeches, I was quick to agree to play the guitar for Razer who at one point decided it necessary to belt out a sloppy rendition of much rehearsed and once extremely tight 'DYB Song.' While I too intended on performing a version of the 'Mr. Song' song, I didn't end up getting around to it before we were all forced to go inside at the request of the couple who was staying in an adjacent room attached to our main cabin. I pity their choice of vacation date and location! I can only hope that this cherubic couple was offered some sort of compensation by the pension which presumably derived a rather hefty profit from hosting our over sized and soju suffused group of noisy teachers.
Straight Grillin'
Bringing the meeting inside did not at all put an end to the festivities. Sitting in a large circle on the hard wooden floor, a number of games continued long into the night. By this time, everyone had either forgotten that Nate and I were presented or simply didn't care to take the time and effort to explain what was going on in English. Thus, the two of us were forced to sit there dumbstruck at the ridiculousness that ensued. Some teachers simply keeled over and continued trying to play while others looked to be in such bad shape that they were dragged off to bed. Now by bed I mean the floor as this capacious cabin had only one actual bed that was shared by merely two of the dozen plus teachers. . .mmmm, luxurious living!
Despite not understanding the progression of the games at hand, I was intermittently told to drink for I had unknowingly done something wrong. This I refused to do and simply curled up in a ball on the floor doing my best to eschew the mayhem. No matter how hard I tried, doing so was simply impossible as I was routinely badgered for putting my head down and not participating. . .um, okay, just explain the game to me.
A love shot with his pepoo!
Eventually, sometime around 4:30am, we were told that the nights activities were over and it was time for bed. Settling into the small bedroom that Nate and I had earlier staked as the Native Room, we were quickly kicked out by a larger group of Korean teachers who insisted we were too spend the night in the main room with Joseph and the remnants of the evening's entertainment. As mentioned earlier, our bedding was no more than a Korean yeo, or thick blanket placed on the floor. Not only were Joseph's pre-bedtime antics hilarious, to say the least, but our laughter managed to keep the teachers up for at least a half hour beyond their prescribed bed time which, though it might have pissed them off a bit, I feel somewhat righteous for doing as they would soon subject me to much, much worse. . . .
An enthralling evening, can't you tell. . .
It didn't seem like more than a second had passed before I awoke to Anna romping through the house belting out the shrillest wake up call I have heard since the 250 feral alarm clocks that roused me each morning in Ghana. This tirade continued on for what seemed like an eternity as I heard teachers grumble in to the shower and out to the picnic table for breakfast. Note that I say 'heard' and not 'saw' as I myself simply refused to budge. My weekends are allocated to resting and enjoying myself, not early morning wake up calls and DYB-isms. Thus, with Joseph tucked in tightly against me on the floor, I held my spot, eyes glued shut, all throughout breakfast. I knew I wouldn't be missing much here as I had Terry confirm my suspicion the prior night that there would be no eggs, bacon, toast or pancakes to be seen. Thus, breakfast was not in my game plan!
After everyone had eaten, and I had napped a few precious extra minutes of shuteye, I was eventually lured out of bed by Razer's guitar. Unfortunately, just as I leaned over to take it from him (oooo how I miss the vibrations of a full sized acoustic, though don't get me wrong, I love my Baby Taylor, which incidentally might be going up on the chopping block soon, see Craig's List Korea for details), we were called outside for the second half of the 'serious part,' speeches. I had been delighted when, the night before, we were informed that the speeches section would be delayed until morning due to our late arrival. Unfortunately at that time I didn't fully consider the repercussions of a samgyeopsal party followed by two hour of 'sleep.'
We had been informed of these speeches ahead of time but Anna had (purposely?) been rather vague in explaining the subject matter, merely portending that they were to be very, very serious. Here's what I was able to surmise ahead of time. We were supposed to talk about our past, present and future discussion the different emotions, goals and accomplishments associated with each. We were also to address our personality flaws and fundamentals while relating the whole thing to our experience working at DYB. Apparently, the speeches were supposed to be wrapped up with some grand 'resolution' about our personal role in further DYB Junggye Branch and helping it to reach it's ideal enrollment of 1000 students. (For reference, we currently have somewhere around 500 students and I would consider both the teachers and physical space completely exhausted. . .so good luck Junggye!)
Previously, as I had plenty of down time on the bus ride to the site, I had actually considered attempting to address the majority of these topics. Sure, everything regarding my role in DYB would be fudged and nothing about my personal life would be revealed other than a rosy version of my time in Korea but, at least I had intended on trying. That all changed Sunday morning. For three hours I sat in the chilly morning on a hard, short, uncomfortable wooden bench listening to Korean teachers give tear jerking stories about their failed lives in a language that I understand not a lick of. I was hungry, tired and plain old pissed off at the fact that I was forced to sit through this when earlier in the week Terry had promised me the weekend would be 'in English' to test the other teachers' linguistic perspicacity.
I know it might sound a bit like whining to say 'oh, I had to go on vacation, eat and drink for free all night, then wake up and listen to a bit of seriousness that in all honesty I could zone out,' but believe me, this was worse that torture. To sit there and pretend like what was going on mattered was simply a joke. It didn't take me long to just close my eyes and totter back and forth. This only lasted a few seconds however before the Branch Supervisor, sitting across from me, tossed me a swift kick under the table. After the first few torturous hours I began to let hold of anything I was previously doing to belie my annoyance with the situation. While at one point I simply got up to go fetch some bananas from inside, it was only too soon before I had to reluctantly trod back out to the confession session.
By the time it was my turn to make an announcement I spent no more than five minutes telling my audience about how I enjoy Always Doing Always Moving (did you catch the acronym?). What my point came down to was that I've been in Korea for more than long enough and it was time for me to embark on a new adventure which I am eagerly anticipating. I felt this topic to be most relevant as I was well aware that at the onset of this trip, the goal of a number of teachers was to try and persuade Nate and I both to resign our contracts and stay longer with DYB. While I never have and do not intend to ever do so, I have little problem addressing the issue of my eventual departure though normally I do so with much greater restraint.
Finally, after about three and a half hours of these continuous, indecipherable screeds, Razer stood up and insisted that he must leave as he had certain business, I believe of the ecclesiastical order, to attend to. I too excused myself (or maybe I didn't) and turned to hop in the car with him as I had expressed that my commitment to my soccer team was as long lasting as that to DYB and my last regular season game was not to be missed. Thankfully, Razer agreed to pack me in and less than an hour later I was back in the comfort of my Doota abode. While I say I was lucky to get out of there, after only another hour or so of speeches, the 'serious part' broke down into an afternoon of water sports which I am somewhat disappointed I missed. Though it would have been great fun to go tubing, I wouldn't have traded my last game in for it and am certainly glad that I made it back in time. Thanks a bunch Razer!
As for Sunday afternoon, well, that's already been covered, just check below if you missed it! I tried to vote for myself today (hey, why not?) for defensive player of the year but it turns out you're not allowed to vote for anyone on your own team and you have to click a button verifying that you didn't. I'm all for self predilection but I couldn't bring myself to lie to the cyberworld about voting for a teammate. . .oh well, we'll see if anyone else noticed me other than Sun. I doubt it but, then again, you never know! The results will be disclosed this Saturday at an awards banquet in Gangnam. Apparently, no one from our team showed up last time except for Sun and as of now, no one but him has RSVP'd. I can't say I'm dying to go and mingle with fellow league players, none of whom I know, but I think I'll go just to show support for Sun as he's been such a helpful mentor here. I just hope the buffet is worth 18,000 won!
I know the weekend wasn't that bad and obviously the teachers' nefarious agenda was meant as a sort of solidarity generating technique. The part that I just can't get over is that it did nothing to create such a feeling for anyone but the Korean teachers. Sure, there were a dozen of them and only two of us 'Natives' but then again, we're the one's that they're trying to get to stick around. Or maybe, are they really more worried about everyone else leaving? Now that I think about it, that's likely the much bigger issue for them as the KT's continue to drop like flies. Just last month we lost another newer member, Ja Young who was replaced by the kind but rather eccentric Susan (Ho In). At the rate they're going, the DYB I will say good bye to in a few months time will be almost entirely different from that which I joined last August. I wonder if these sort of seminars help, or hurt their cause. I guess that's not for me to worry about now is it!
Well look at how time flies! And didn't I say just a few thousand words ago that I had nothing substantial to report on this momentous day? Whoulda thunk it'd all just come rushing out like that! As for the other updates I was going to leave you with, well, don't worry about 'em now. I'll save it for sometime when I've got nothing left to rant about. When'll that be? Well, your guess is as good as mine!
Goodnight and Happy 300!
(*While reading, I have recently begun the practice of writing down, and subsequently looking up, words that I am unfamiliar with. Although I've been told to do this for years, I've never actual done so until now. Not surprisingly, I rather enjoy doing so as I feel like it's opening a whole new literary world to me. In the past, I have never minded simply skimming over unrecognizable words whereas now I am eager to learn their meaning which I write down in my school/work notebook. In order to help me better remember these new words, I have tried to slip them into both conversation and most recently, my writing. The above posts contains 10 or so of these 'new words/phrases' borrowed from authors Tom Robbins, Paul Theroux, Kevin Gotham, Jon Krakauer and David Grazian. I don't doubt that the majority of these are used incorrectly as I am hardly familiar with the terms. Even so, I find it's worth the practice and I'll eagerly accept any critique that you might be willing to offer! Can you find all 10!?)
First on the list are the events that transpired this past weekend under the guise of a DYB 'membership training' seminar. Early last week, I was approached by Anna about two issues. The first was that we were to begin an office wide Secret Santa like game, maniddo, where each teacher is supposed to surreptitiously shower another with gifts assistance and praise. Of course, my initial question was how this is supposed to remain a secret as the later two seemingly require some sort of interpersonal interaction. Unable to find anyone willing to answer my question, I quickly gave up on the matter figuring it would be to my maniddos disadvantage if they didn't take the time to explain it to me!
Turns out I was lucky enough to draw Terry which made associating with my maniddo less strenuous as I had imagined it could be had I chosen one of our numerous employees that I simply do not interact with on a daily basis. To get my showering of gifts over with quickly I simply asked Terry to come out for chicken and beer (if you haven't figured it out by know, this a Korean standard, don't ask why, it just is) and insisted on picking up the check. This was not an all together easy feat as she out ranks me in both age and status which, in this Confucian society, means that I am in no way obliged to be covering the tab. Even so, I was able to complete my mini-mission and make it even more convincing by talking the whole time about how I don't know what to do for my maniddo. How mendacious of me, right!?
The second matter of business that Anna addressed us all about on Tuesday was the weekend's upcoming 'membership training' seminar. While few details were disclosed at that time, Anna insisted that it would have three parts, 'dinner,' a 'serious part,' and then lastly the intemperate 'drunken part.' The one thing that was made clear was that sleep would be limited. As exciting as it sounded to get out of Seoul for the weekend, you can imagine how unappealing such an offer is when limited sleeping (usually my favorite weekend activity) is promised along with the company of only coworkers (those that I certainly, no offense, get enough of during the work week).
Come Saturday I was feeling confident about my maniddo responsibilities as I had slipped Terry a movie theater sized box of Skittles (thanks Dad) and a Starbucks gift card (or 'money check' as they refer to them here) during the course of the week. While she questioned me about it once, I quickly denied any knowledge of the gift bearer. As for me, I received a few kinda sticky notes accompanied by a delicious bottle of apple juice, and odd rice drink and on Friday, a package of chocolate covered nuts accompanied by a rather prurient love note. The later 'gift' sent me reeling as the grammatically incorrect ballad read like a veritable Korean translation making me question whether it was a joke or a terribly unrestrained lustful confession. Nevertheless, the letter assured me that my paramour would come forth on Saturday evening. . . now I really had something to look forward too!
After grabbing lunch with Steve in Itaewon, Nate and I headed back towards Junggye to get ready for our 6:00pm departure. Not wanting to miss my final soccer game of the season, I stuffed my backpack full of cleats and uniforms, leaving little room for anything else. I hoped, and was correct, in that it didn't matter. One thing I did bring however was my bathing suit as Terry had called the night before to let Nate and I know that we might go tubing during the 'camping trip.' I asked her if that meant we should bring bathing suits to which she responded 'No, just a change of clothes.'
This is hilariously indicative of Korean's conservative attitudes towards revealing ones body in public. While they (yes, I know this is a generalization but you find a better way to say what I'm trying to say) refuse to expose themselves on a beach or under the warm summer sun, these same people have no problem stripping down and walking around jimjilbangs (saunas/spas) in the buff, sharing showers, baths, and coffee all while completely naked. Yet, try to take your shirt off while tubing on a river and one is instantly made to feel ignominious. Just ask Nate!
What a shocking move!(Photo courtesy of NMK Studios)
So, with a backpack stuffed with nothing of real use I met up with the teachers just as they were exiting DYB headed for a small shuttle bus that normal whips our students to and fro academy in the evenings. In their matching shirts, I couldn't help but chuckle at the seriousness with which this outing seemed to be taken. Apparently, 'teams' had already be chosen and sides were represented by one of two colored smiley face t's. . .see below for a visual.
Dddd Yy Bb!(Photo courtesy of NMK Studios)
A two hour cramped bus ride later and we were dumped out into the remote darkness of Pyeonchang. Not only did I later learn that we weren't too far from the ski resort that we had visited over Lunar New Year but that the city is currently trying to put in an official bid for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Not sure where they'd host any of the downhill events but it's Korea, I'm sure they'll find a way!
Loadin' up(Photo courtesy of NMK Studios)
After unloading all our luggage (or lack there of, most of the Korean teachers brought nothing more than a decent sized purse) into the 'homey' four bedroom cabin, we headed outside to a long picnic table for a very traditional work related dinner. While food and beverage were abound, the main difference was that we did not cook the food directly at our table but rather Joseph (who we were happy to have accompany us on this trip despite no longer working at Junggye) and one of DYB's higher lever managers (who is also apparently our 'branch supervisor') cooked the samgyeopsal over two freestanding charcoal grills. Even so, dinner was delicious and excessive as always.
Joseph and I working hard to get dinner ready!As everyone began reaching their personal satiety, the focused shifted from dinner to one of two 'serious parts' of the weekend. In this phase of the evening, each person had to stand and covertly describe their maniddo while the others tried to guess who it was. Then the maniddo had to take the stage and praise the work of their personal agent. This continued on for some time as each pair was forced to take a 'love shot' (or two) of soju. The only thing I gained from this experience was the knowledge that my licentious love note was in fact a joke that had nothign to do with my maniddo but rather was planted by Razer to arouse suspicion. This was by far the funniest thing that I have seen a Korean execute that didn't involve self humiliation in some way, shape, or form.
The Spread!Growing extremely tired of the repetitive nature of these speeches, I was quick to agree to play the guitar for Razer who at one point decided it necessary to belt out a sloppy rendition of much rehearsed and once extremely tight 'DYB Song.' While I too intended on performing a version of the 'Mr. Song' song, I didn't end up getting around to it before we were all forced to go inside at the request of the couple who was staying in an adjacent room attached to our main cabin. I pity their choice of vacation date and location! I can only hope that this cherubic couple was offered some sort of compensation by the pension which presumably derived a rather hefty profit from hosting our over sized and soju suffused group of noisy teachers.
Straight Grillin'Bringing the meeting inside did not at all put an end to the festivities. Sitting in a large circle on the hard wooden floor, a number of games continued long into the night. By this time, everyone had either forgotten that Nate and I were presented or simply didn't care to take the time and effort to explain what was going on in English. Thus, the two of us were forced to sit there dumbstruck at the ridiculousness that ensued. Some teachers simply keeled over and continued trying to play while others looked to be in such bad shape that they were dragged off to bed. Now by bed I mean the floor as this capacious cabin had only one actual bed that was shared by merely two of the dozen plus teachers. . .mmmm, luxurious living!
Despite not understanding the progression of the games at hand, I was intermittently told to drink for I had unknowingly done something wrong. This I refused to do and simply curled up in a ball on the floor doing my best to eschew the mayhem. No matter how hard I tried, doing so was simply impossible as I was routinely badgered for putting my head down and not participating. . .um, okay, just explain the game to me.
A love shot with his pepoo!Eventually, sometime around 4:30am, we were told that the nights activities were over and it was time for bed. Settling into the small bedroom that Nate and I had earlier staked as the Native Room, we were quickly kicked out by a larger group of Korean teachers who insisted we were too spend the night in the main room with Joseph and the remnants of the evening's entertainment. As mentioned earlier, our bedding was no more than a Korean yeo, or thick blanket placed on the floor. Not only were Joseph's pre-bedtime antics hilarious, to say the least, but our laughter managed to keep the teachers up for at least a half hour beyond their prescribed bed time which, though it might have pissed them off a bit, I feel somewhat righteous for doing as they would soon subject me to much, much worse. . . .
An enthralling evening, can't you tell. . .It didn't seem like more than a second had passed before I awoke to Anna romping through the house belting out the shrillest wake up call I have heard since the 250 feral alarm clocks that roused me each morning in Ghana. This tirade continued on for what seemed like an eternity as I heard teachers grumble in to the shower and out to the picnic table for breakfast. Note that I say 'heard' and not 'saw' as I myself simply refused to budge. My weekends are allocated to resting and enjoying myself, not early morning wake up calls and DYB-isms. Thus, with Joseph tucked in tightly against me on the floor, I held my spot, eyes glued shut, all throughout breakfast. I knew I wouldn't be missing much here as I had Terry confirm my suspicion the prior night that there would be no eggs, bacon, toast or pancakes to be seen. Thus, breakfast was not in my game plan!
After everyone had eaten, and I had napped a few precious extra minutes of shuteye, I was eventually lured out of bed by Razer's guitar. Unfortunately, just as I leaned over to take it from him (oooo how I miss the vibrations of a full sized acoustic, though don't get me wrong, I love my Baby Taylor, which incidentally might be going up on the chopping block soon, see Craig's List Korea for details), we were called outside for the second half of the 'serious part,' speeches. I had been delighted when, the night before, we were informed that the speeches section would be delayed until morning due to our late arrival. Unfortunately at that time I didn't fully consider the repercussions of a samgyeopsal party followed by two hour of 'sleep.'
We had been informed of these speeches ahead of time but Anna had (purposely?) been rather vague in explaining the subject matter, merely portending that they were to be very, very serious. Here's what I was able to surmise ahead of time. We were supposed to talk about our past, present and future discussion the different emotions, goals and accomplishments associated with each. We were also to address our personality flaws and fundamentals while relating the whole thing to our experience working at DYB. Apparently, the speeches were supposed to be wrapped up with some grand 'resolution' about our personal role in further DYB Junggye Branch and helping it to reach it's ideal enrollment of 1000 students. (For reference, we currently have somewhere around 500 students and I would consider both the teachers and physical space completely exhausted. . .so good luck Junggye!)
Previously, as I had plenty of down time on the bus ride to the site, I had actually considered attempting to address the majority of these topics. Sure, everything regarding my role in DYB would be fudged and nothing about my personal life would be revealed other than a rosy version of my time in Korea but, at least I had intended on trying. That all changed Sunday morning. For three hours I sat in the chilly morning on a hard, short, uncomfortable wooden bench listening to Korean teachers give tear jerking stories about their failed lives in a language that I understand not a lick of. I was hungry, tired and plain old pissed off at the fact that I was forced to sit through this when earlier in the week Terry had promised me the weekend would be 'in English' to test the other teachers' linguistic perspicacity.
I know it might sound a bit like whining to say 'oh, I had to go on vacation, eat and drink for free all night, then wake up and listen to a bit of seriousness that in all honesty I could zone out,' but believe me, this was worse that torture. To sit there and pretend like what was going on mattered was simply a joke. It didn't take me long to just close my eyes and totter back and forth. This only lasted a few seconds however before the Branch Supervisor, sitting across from me, tossed me a swift kick under the table. After the first few torturous hours I began to let hold of anything I was previously doing to belie my annoyance with the situation. While at one point I simply got up to go fetch some bananas from inside, it was only too soon before I had to reluctantly trod back out to the confession session.
By the time it was my turn to make an announcement I spent no more than five minutes telling my audience about how I enjoy Always Doing Always Moving (did you catch the acronym?). What my point came down to was that I've been in Korea for more than long enough and it was time for me to embark on a new adventure which I am eagerly anticipating. I felt this topic to be most relevant as I was well aware that at the onset of this trip, the goal of a number of teachers was to try and persuade Nate and I both to resign our contracts and stay longer with DYB. While I never have and do not intend to ever do so, I have little problem addressing the issue of my eventual departure though normally I do so with much greater restraint.
Finally, after about three and a half hours of these continuous, indecipherable screeds, Razer stood up and insisted that he must leave as he had certain business, I believe of the ecclesiastical order, to attend to. I too excused myself (or maybe I didn't) and turned to hop in the car with him as I had expressed that my commitment to my soccer team was as long lasting as that to DYB and my last regular season game was not to be missed. Thankfully, Razer agreed to pack me in and less than an hour later I was back in the comfort of my Doota abode. While I say I was lucky to get out of there, after only another hour or so of speeches, the 'serious part' broke down into an afternoon of water sports which I am somewhat disappointed I missed. Though it would have been great fun to go tubing, I wouldn't have traded my last game in for it and am certainly glad that I made it back in time. Thanks a bunch Razer!
As for Sunday afternoon, well, that's already been covered, just check below if you missed it! I tried to vote for myself today (hey, why not?) for defensive player of the year but it turns out you're not allowed to vote for anyone on your own team and you have to click a button verifying that you didn't. I'm all for self predilection but I couldn't bring myself to lie to the cyberworld about voting for a teammate. . .oh well, we'll see if anyone else noticed me other than Sun. I doubt it but, then again, you never know! The results will be disclosed this Saturday at an awards banquet in Gangnam. Apparently, no one from our team showed up last time except for Sun and as of now, no one but him has RSVP'd. I can't say I'm dying to go and mingle with fellow league players, none of whom I know, but I think I'll go just to show support for Sun as he's been such a helpful mentor here. I just hope the buffet is worth 18,000 won!
I know the weekend wasn't that bad and obviously the teachers' nefarious agenda was meant as a sort of solidarity generating technique. The part that I just can't get over is that it did nothing to create such a feeling for anyone but the Korean teachers. Sure, there were a dozen of them and only two of us 'Natives' but then again, we're the one's that they're trying to get to stick around. Or maybe, are they really more worried about everyone else leaving? Now that I think about it, that's likely the much bigger issue for them as the KT's continue to drop like flies. Just last month we lost another newer member, Ja Young who was replaced by the kind but rather eccentric Susan (Ho In). At the rate they're going, the DYB I will say good bye to in a few months time will be almost entirely different from that which I joined last August. I wonder if these sort of seminars help, or hurt their cause. I guess that's not for me to worry about now is it!
Well look at how time flies! And didn't I say just a few thousand words ago that I had nothing substantial to report on this momentous day? Whoulda thunk it'd all just come rushing out like that! As for the other updates I was going to leave you with, well, don't worry about 'em now. I'll save it for sometime when I've got nothing left to rant about. When'll that be? Well, your guess is as good as mine!
Goodnight and Happy 300!
(*While reading, I have recently begun the practice of writing down, and subsequently looking up, words that I am unfamiliar with. Although I've been told to do this for years, I've never actual done so until now. Not surprisingly, I rather enjoy doing so as I feel like it's opening a whole new literary world to me. In the past, I have never minded simply skimming over unrecognizable words whereas now I am eager to learn their meaning which I write down in my school/work notebook. In order to help me better remember these new words, I have tried to slip them into both conversation and most recently, my writing. The above posts contains 10 or so of these 'new words/phrases' borrowed from authors Tom Robbins, Paul Theroux, Kevin Gotham, Jon Krakauer and David Grazian. I don't doubt that the majority of these are used incorrectly as I am hardly familiar with the terms. Even so, I find it's worth the practice and I'll eagerly accept any critique that you might be willing to offer! Can you find all 10!?)
Monday, March 16, 2009
As good as it gets. . .
How do you make up for three hours of essentially uninformative 'workshops' accompanied by two hours of early morning subway travel?
With an eight percent raise of course!
Seems as though Nate and I have both been doing something right as Mr. Lee sat us down briefly this morning (following a meeting about the new middle school books, following a meeting about the new elementary school books) to let us know that we had both done well enough on our 'six month evaluation' to deserve a slight pay hike! Woo hoo!
While he mentioned the possibility of this happening months ago, I had started to question the validity of such a raise as our six month mark, February 24th, had come and gone without word of any 'evaluation.' Apparently my idea of an evaluation is slightly different than Mr. Lee's but, for the better of course! As I once expected that he would in fact show up for a class or two of mine to truly 'evaluate' me, it turns out that all I needed to do was keep my Korean Teachers happy who in turn speak to Mr. Lee on my behalf! Looks like I owe 'em all a belated White Day present. . .not that I meant to forget but come on, I finished work at 10:30pm Friday and had to report back at 8:30am the following morning. . .buying chocolate for my married Korean coworkers was not at the top of my list. McDonald's breakfast however, was.
Anyways, rousing myself this morning was anything but easy as my 8:00am alarm only barely ruffled me enough to realize that I did in fact need to get up! One would think this would not be an incredible problem having gotten to bed a bit before midnight on Sunday. The only thing is that I was still lagging on sleep from what can only be described as a remarkably bizarre Saturday. Even so, the few hours of somewhat agitated sleep that I did get couldn't stop me from getting to soccer on time.
Sunday started out as a beautiful day but quickly turned gray and rainy as the Spitfires took the field against a totally revamped DA-ROK (Democrat Americans in the Republic of Korea) team (they even have jerseys this season). No more than five minutes into the match Jun Ho (my German speaking heterozygous teammate of Korean descent) managed to tap a goal in to the back of the net off a beautiful throw in from center midfielder Joseph. Only a few ticks o' the ole' clock later we found ourselves in a similar position, threatening DA-ROK's goal from the sideline. Timing my run until the last second I burst up the field from my position at stopper just as Joseph let fly an absolute bomb that easily cleared the heads of the scrum waiting in the middle of the box. Catching the ball near the back post I was able to lay a solid header straight into the ground and underneath a perplexed keeper who looked as though he just had a defender run up and score on him. Well in fact, that is just what happened! Despite the lack of unspectacular play to follow, I still somehow managed to wrangle 25% of the votes for 'Man of the Match.' I will admit that this statistic is somewhat misleading however as currently only four people have voted. Though, if I learned anything in college, it's that you can use statistics to support any claim you want to make, so long as you report who and where they come from!
Up 2-0, our defense lost hold on the game for a bit as the midfield decided we were good enough to mark a six man front with out any assistance. This proved to be untrue as DA-ROK managed to bomb one past our keeper, Han D S, not too long after we had began our initial onslaught. From that point forth the game was surprisingly even matched as DA-ROK fought with a vengeance against a Spitfire team that had previously embarrassed them something along the lines of 17-2. . . A rocket off of rookie Jake's foot put us up 3-1 just before half. Despite a number of attempts by both sides, nothing more came from either offense except a great deal of ringing crossbars! Our first victory of the season! Next week, the acclaimed Cheongju makes the trip up to Apgujeong for a rematch of last seasons 1-0 victory in which I took home my first 'Man of the Match' award. I can't wait for it!
Buuuut, what I was saying is that it wasn't hard to fall asleep Sunday night. . . just not so easy to wake up again early Monday morning. To top it all off, I recently (Thursday afternoon) learned from Joseph that my 'Special Classes' were in fact set to begin this Monday, not a week later! This came as quite a surprise, especially considering that I had just professed to Anna that I knew naught of what I was doing.
I had crossed my fingers on the way to Daechi this morning, hoping that something beneficial would come of our meetings (which of course we were not told the content of until they began). Alas, nothing did. Thus, I was left with only an hour or so before class to figure out exactly what I should be doing for this new, unmanned (yes, there is no Korean teacher working with me on this one) class that students actually, gulp, have to pay extra for! Wait a minute, didn't Marx say something about the notion of employees creating surplus value for their employers while receiving no additional compensation for themselves? What was his advice?
As nothing revolutionary (ha) came to me while showering, I decided it would be best if I headed in early, picked up my new book from Joseph and at least familiarized myself with that material. Not that easy, obviously, it's Korea! Arriving at school an hour before my first class, Joseph informed me that he wasn't yet sure what book I would be using. I reminded him that my classes began today and that it would be nice to actually, oh, you know, prepare for them! He did eventually get my my book a few minutes before classes started, only to tell me a few hours later that no one had signed up for the Monday session!
Well hot damn! That's a free two hours for me all of a sudden! And to think, I spent the better part of a morning worrying to death about what these students were going to think of me as I stumbled through a 'special class' that, remarkably, resemebled my normal classes on every level. . .oh, except that I'd be less prepared! Eh, I guess that's only partially true. I spent the better part of the morning falling asleep on subways, even the one that we were on for only 15 minutes!
With only a couple minutes left to prepare I hoped on the world renowned (not true, Koreans employ the all-might NAVER) Google to look into something I had heard mentioned as this morning's meeting: Yellow Dust! Apparently this stuff ain't no joke! I guess the 'season' has officially become as today marks the first of the inevitable storms that blow in sand from the Gobi desert mixed with heavy metal particulate spewed by China's ever producing factories. Strange, but true. Here I was thinking that my sore throat this morning had something to do with playing soccer in the cold rain yesterday! If you want to stay up to date on the particulate count in the air check out the monitoring done by the USofA's 65th Medical Brigade here. (Click on the Yongsan link in the upper left for more detailed information as I believe it is the base closest to us. . .though I've heard of one just north, I'm not sure what it is. . .any clues?)
Turns out I didn't even have to use the Yellow Dust article I found as I was able to scrap together a couple lectures about the 'eminent' launch of North Korea's peaceful 'satellite' in the coming month (April 4-8 is the projected launch date, watch out Hawaii and Alaska). Furthermore, with no one showing up for my first 'special class,' I was able to finally dig in to the stack of almost 100 essays that I have accumulated in the past few months since I was scheduled without any essay time. Sure, now I've gotta obviously get down to business but there's no way you're ever talking me in to taking those things home with me, not a prayer, I'll do 'em during essay time or I won't do 'em at all.
I guess the most important thing I did today was put in to play the single piece of advice that Steve Jung, DYB's sole R&D employee, offered us at today's middle school workshop. According to Steve, the most important thing for any teacher is not how 'good' or 'bad' they are but, at the end of the day, what kind of relationship they have with the students. If a teacher can connect to the students and create a trusting, meaningful relationship then it doesn't matter how good or bad they are at 'teaching' per say; so says the man in charge!
Well I sure didn't accomplish a lot of 'learning' today, but I'd be darned if my kids didn't have a fun time in class. . .and that's about as good as it gets over here!
With an eight percent raise of course!
Seems as though Nate and I have both been doing something right as Mr. Lee sat us down briefly this morning (following a meeting about the new middle school books, following a meeting about the new elementary school books) to let us know that we had both done well enough on our 'six month evaluation' to deserve a slight pay hike! Woo hoo!
While he mentioned the possibility of this happening months ago, I had started to question the validity of such a raise as our six month mark, February 24th, had come and gone without word of any 'evaluation.' Apparently my idea of an evaluation is slightly different than Mr. Lee's but, for the better of course! As I once expected that he would in fact show up for a class or two of mine to truly 'evaluate' me, it turns out that all I needed to do was keep my Korean Teachers happy who in turn speak to Mr. Lee on my behalf! Looks like I owe 'em all a belated White Day present. . .not that I meant to forget but come on, I finished work at 10:30pm Friday and had to report back at 8:30am the following morning. . .buying chocolate for my married Korean coworkers was not at the top of my list. McDonald's breakfast however, was.
Anyways, rousing myself this morning was anything but easy as my 8:00am alarm only barely ruffled me enough to realize that I did in fact need to get up! One would think this would not be an incredible problem having gotten to bed a bit before midnight on Sunday. The only thing is that I was still lagging on sleep from what can only be described as a remarkably bizarre Saturday. Even so, the few hours of somewhat agitated sleep that I did get couldn't stop me from getting to soccer on time.
Sunday started out as a beautiful day but quickly turned gray and rainy as the Spitfires took the field against a totally revamped DA-ROK (Democrat Americans in the Republic of Korea) team (they even have jerseys this season). No more than five minutes into the match Jun Ho (my German speaking heterozygous teammate of Korean descent) managed to tap a goal in to the back of the net off a beautiful throw in from center midfielder Joseph. Only a few ticks o' the ole' clock later we found ourselves in a similar position, threatening DA-ROK's goal from the sideline. Timing my run until the last second I burst up the field from my position at stopper just as Joseph let fly an absolute bomb that easily cleared the heads of the scrum waiting in the middle of the box. Catching the ball near the back post I was able to lay a solid header straight into the ground and underneath a perplexed keeper who looked as though he just had a defender run up and score on him. Well in fact, that is just what happened! Despite the lack of unspectacular play to follow, I still somehow managed to wrangle 25% of the votes for 'Man of the Match.' I will admit that this statistic is somewhat misleading however as currently only four people have voted. Though, if I learned anything in college, it's that you can use statistics to support any claim you want to make, so long as you report who and where they come from!
Up 2-0, our defense lost hold on the game for a bit as the midfield decided we were good enough to mark a six man front with out any assistance. This proved to be untrue as DA-ROK managed to bomb one past our keeper, Han D S, not too long after we had began our initial onslaught. From that point forth the game was surprisingly even matched as DA-ROK fought with a vengeance against a Spitfire team that had previously embarrassed them something along the lines of 17-2. . . A rocket off of rookie Jake's foot put us up 3-1 just before half. Despite a number of attempts by both sides, nothing more came from either offense except a great deal of ringing crossbars! Our first victory of the season! Next week, the acclaimed Cheongju makes the trip up to Apgujeong for a rematch of last seasons 1-0 victory in which I took home my first 'Man of the Match' award. I can't wait for it!
Buuuut, what I was saying is that it wasn't hard to fall asleep Sunday night. . . just not so easy to wake up again early Monday morning. To top it all off, I recently (Thursday afternoon) learned from Joseph that my 'Special Classes' were in fact set to begin this Monday, not a week later! This came as quite a surprise, especially considering that I had just professed to Anna that I knew naught of what I was doing.
I had crossed my fingers on the way to Daechi this morning, hoping that something beneficial would come of our meetings (which of course we were not told the content of until they began). Alas, nothing did. Thus, I was left with only an hour or so before class to figure out exactly what I should be doing for this new, unmanned (yes, there is no Korean teacher working with me on this one) class that students actually, gulp, have to pay extra for! Wait a minute, didn't Marx say something about the notion of employees creating surplus value for their employers while receiving no additional compensation for themselves? What was his advice?
As nothing revolutionary (ha) came to me while showering, I decided it would be best if I headed in early, picked up my new book from Joseph and at least familiarized myself with that material. Not that easy, obviously, it's Korea! Arriving at school an hour before my first class, Joseph informed me that he wasn't yet sure what book I would be using. I reminded him that my classes began today and that it would be nice to actually, oh, you know, prepare for them! He did eventually get my my book a few minutes before classes started, only to tell me a few hours later that no one had signed up for the Monday session!
Well hot damn! That's a free two hours for me all of a sudden! And to think, I spent the better part of a morning worrying to death about what these students were going to think of me as I stumbled through a 'special class' that, remarkably, resemebled my normal classes on every level. . .oh, except that I'd be less prepared! Eh, I guess that's only partially true. I spent the better part of the morning falling asleep on subways, even the one that we were on for only 15 minutes!
With only a couple minutes left to prepare I hoped on the world renowned (not true, Koreans employ the all-might NAVER) Google to look into something I had heard mentioned as this morning's meeting: Yellow Dust! Apparently this stuff ain't no joke! I guess the 'season' has officially become as today marks the first of the inevitable storms that blow in sand from the Gobi desert mixed with heavy metal particulate spewed by China's ever producing factories. Strange, but true. Here I was thinking that my sore throat this morning had something to do with playing soccer in the cold rain yesterday! If you want to stay up to date on the particulate count in the air check out the monitoring done by the USofA's 65th Medical Brigade here. (Click on the Yongsan link in the upper left for more detailed information as I believe it is the base closest to us. . .though I've heard of one just north, I'm not sure what it is. . .any clues?)
Turns out I didn't even have to use the Yellow Dust article I found as I was able to scrap together a couple lectures about the 'eminent' launch of North Korea's peaceful 'satellite' in the coming month (April 4-8 is the projected launch date, watch out Hawaii and Alaska). Furthermore, with no one showing up for my first 'special class,' I was able to finally dig in to the stack of almost 100 essays that I have accumulated in the past few months since I was scheduled without any essay time. Sure, now I've gotta obviously get down to business but there's no way you're ever talking me in to taking those things home with me, not a prayer, I'll do 'em during essay time or I won't do 'em at all.
I guess the most important thing I did today was put in to play the single piece of advice that Steve Jung, DYB's sole R&D employee, offered us at today's middle school workshop. According to Steve, the most important thing for any teacher is not how 'good' or 'bad' they are but, at the end of the day, what kind of relationship they have with the students. If a teacher can connect to the students and create a trusting, meaningful relationship then it doesn't matter how good or bad they are at 'teaching' per say; so says the man in charge!
Well I sure didn't accomplish a lot of 'learning' today, but I'd be darned if my kids didn't have a fun time in class. . .and that's about as good as it gets over here!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Special Classes
Apparently, beginning in two weeks, I will start teaching a series of 'special classes.' This is about all that I know on the subject.
After a short trip to DYB's Main Branch in Daechi a few weeks ago, I learned that the classes are known as R&D, or, Reading and Debate Class. This was somewhat of a relief to hear as I at first thought R&D stood for Research and Development meaning that I would literally be testing out a totally new concept of a class. . . turns out I wasn't too far off!
What I gained from a brief meeting with Rene, a DYB FT who has been teaching only R&D classes for about a month now, is that the classes are meant to provide the students with something above and beyond that which they learn from 'the book,' whichever book that may be. To be honest, that's kind of what I've been trying to do all along here. Not that I spend countless hours lesson planning at home to come up with interesting and invigorating ways to learn English, in fact, I really haven't done anything like that ever, but I do try and inject as much 'humanity' as I can into my lessons. Whether this is allowing the kids to talk to me freely about how much they despise their president, Lee Myung Bak, or simply educating them about Mardi Gras traditions, I feel like I have done a decent job of bringing class to life.
Now apparently families will be shelling out extra money to sign their kids up for an extra class with me to get some sort of 'special' education above and beyond that I already provide. Uh oh. . .
All Rene really told us is that we by no means need to stick to the book that will be assigned to the kids but rather just figure out some-thing that we want to teach, and teach it. Now this sounds alright except that I've never really taught before and have no concept of the things that one would teach to a student of the English language. For example, Rene gave us a worksheet on the different ending sounds of words that end in -ed. Did you know that -ed can be pronounced three different ways and it's determined by the letter, or sound, preceding this ending? Neither did I. . .but apparently, that's 'teachable' material. Not quite a Mardi Gras trivia class. . . .
Up until today I didn't really think much about the classes as they don't start for a whole week 'n a half. . .hmmm. Anna however decided to ask me during class today what I planned on doing for the Oxford and Cambridge classes, as they are known, I guess. I told her that honestly I hadn't put much thought into it but that Rene had given me some material to get me on my feet. She then inquired as to whether or now I would be teaching writing as a big chunk of the class. With no clue as to what I'm expected to do, I went with my instinct and told her that I'd do some but probably focus on speaking as the class is called Reading and Debate.
In response to this Anna asked if I was aware of what parents expected from the class.
Um, why yes Anna, I've actually spent a great deal of time discussing with them over the phone in the past few weeks. . .in Korean.
Anna then informed me that the flyer used to advertise the class informs parents that their students will receive special education in the areas of speaking and writing. Hmmm, news to me. She then asked if I was familiar with the flyer that was being sent home. I told her that I had seen it but had no idea what it said (as it's entirely in Korean). Apparently the intent of the flyer is to sell kids, and their parents, on the merits of this special class which Nate and I will both be teaching. Unfortunately, we have yet to be informed of what exactly these merits are that we have to offer.
In turn, DYB is using our names to sell kids and parents on a class that we have yet to been instructed on. Expectations? None yet conveyed. Goals? Not that I'm aware of. Purpose? I think to generate extra revenue for DYB during this crunch time but, can I be sure, no, not of anything here in the Land of the Morning Calm.
So, now you know about as much as I do, wanna teach my class for me.
Oh, one good aspect of these classes is that they are set aside in a two hour block but are only supposed to last one 'n a half hours. Oooohhh yeeeah, 30 minutes of free time for each class taught! Now that, I can deal with.
More from Junggye when I figure out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. . .not that I expect to anytime soon!
After a short trip to DYB's Main Branch in Daechi a few weeks ago, I learned that the classes are known as R&D, or, Reading and Debate Class. This was somewhat of a relief to hear as I at first thought R&D stood for Research and Development meaning that I would literally be testing out a totally new concept of a class. . . turns out I wasn't too far off!
What I gained from a brief meeting with Rene, a DYB FT who has been teaching only R&D classes for about a month now, is that the classes are meant to provide the students with something above and beyond that which they learn from 'the book,' whichever book that may be. To be honest, that's kind of what I've been trying to do all along here. Not that I spend countless hours lesson planning at home to come up with interesting and invigorating ways to learn English, in fact, I really haven't done anything like that ever, but I do try and inject as much 'humanity' as I can into my lessons. Whether this is allowing the kids to talk to me freely about how much they despise their president, Lee Myung Bak, or simply educating them about Mardi Gras traditions, I feel like I have done a decent job of bringing class to life.
Now apparently families will be shelling out extra money to sign their kids up for an extra class with me to get some sort of 'special' education above and beyond that I already provide. Uh oh. . .
All Rene really told us is that we by no means need to stick to the book that will be assigned to the kids but rather just figure out some-thing that we want to teach, and teach it. Now this sounds alright except that I've never really taught before and have no concept of the things that one would teach to a student of the English language. For example, Rene gave us a worksheet on the different ending sounds of words that end in -ed. Did you know that -ed can be pronounced three different ways and it's determined by the letter, or sound, preceding this ending? Neither did I. . .but apparently, that's 'teachable' material. Not quite a Mardi Gras trivia class. . . .
Up until today I didn't really think much about the classes as they don't start for a whole week 'n a half. . .hmmm. Anna however decided to ask me during class today what I planned on doing for the Oxford and Cambridge classes, as they are known, I guess. I told her that honestly I hadn't put much thought into it but that Rene had given me some material to get me on my feet. She then inquired as to whether or now I would be teaching writing as a big chunk of the class. With no clue as to what I'm expected to do, I went with my instinct and told her that I'd do some but probably focus on speaking as the class is called Reading and Debate.
In response to this Anna asked if I was aware of what parents expected from the class.
Um, why yes Anna, I've actually spent a great deal of time discussing with them over the phone in the past few weeks. . .in Korean.
Anna then informed me that the flyer used to advertise the class informs parents that their students will receive special education in the areas of speaking and writing. Hmmm, news to me. She then asked if I was familiar with the flyer that was being sent home. I told her that I had seen it but had no idea what it said (as it's entirely in Korean). Apparently the intent of the flyer is to sell kids, and their parents, on the merits of this special class which Nate and I will both be teaching. Unfortunately, we have yet to be informed of what exactly these merits are that we have to offer.
In turn, DYB is using our names to sell kids and parents on a class that we have yet to been instructed on. Expectations? None yet conveyed. Goals? Not that I'm aware of. Purpose? I think to generate extra revenue for DYB during this crunch time but, can I be sure, no, not of anything here in the Land of the Morning Calm.
So, now you know about as much as I do, wanna teach my class for me.
Oh, one good aspect of these classes is that they are set aside in a two hour block but are only supposed to last one 'n a half hours. Oooohhh yeeeah, 30 minutes of free time for each class taught! Now that, I can deal with.
More from Junggye when I figure out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. . .not that I expect to anytime soon!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Late for Work
I did it. My first six day week.
Though, to be honest, it's really like a five day week with a guest appearance for two hours on a sixth day. Although I spent all of Saturday (yep, six hours of in class time) complaining to my students about my first 'working weekend', I realized that at my previous job (which I had almost four years ago now) I used to work Saturdays all the time. The only difference is that I would walk out of work with a couple hundred dollars of cash in my pocket to go spend on milkshakes by the beach the next day. . .the rewards were a bit more, well, tangible I guess.
Okay, so I'm lying even further. I didn't quite put in a six hour day Saturday as I showed up half 'n hour late for work. Oops!
At around quarter to two on a beautiful Saturday afternoon Nate and I headed off to the Bagel Shop to grab breakfast. Dressed in my sleepwear, I figured I could have a bite to eat then take a short 'nature walk' before heading into work. Who knew my plans would fall through so quickly.
Immediately after I placed my order, I received a frantic call from David, Junggye's other FT who is also supposedly our 'Team Leader.' Here's how it went. . .
Yo, Adam, like, where are you dude!?
Um, at the bagel shop getting breakfast. Why?
You know you have a class right now, right?
Um, no? What time is it.
It's two o'clock.
Yeah, okay, I don't have class until 4:30.
No dude, you have class right now, you gotta come in.
Uh, okay, I just ordered food though and I'm in sweat pants so it'll take me a bit.
Well, hurry up I guess.
Okay? See you in fifteen or twenty.
Alright. Wait, do you know where Nathan is?
Yeah, right next to me, I'll tell him, don't worry.
Oh yeah, okay, good, he has class.
Yep.
Though we ate more quickly than usual, I didn't exactly make any attempts to fly in to work that minute, figuring that I'd be then when I got there. What doesn't quite make sense is that we are supposed to report to work half 'n hour early yet nobody decided to call until class had actually begun and we were still absent. . . welcome to Korea.
Scarfed down a bagel sandwich, burned my mouth on a cup of coffee (not true, since living in Korea I can practically eat fire without it having any negative effects on the condition of my mouth), and headed back towards Doota. I decided that I'd stick with the 'hurried' in to work theme leaving on my Tulane sweatshirt and simply sliding into a pair of jeans (and brushing my teeth) before heading back out the door.
Got to work around 2:30pm after double checking that I was correct in reading my schedule that says Saturday I have class from 4:30-10:30pm. . . it's amazing that I would assume I had work at that time. Silly me.
Anna caught us coming in and apologized for any confusion. As I suspected we were reprimanded at all, partly because we dodged the front office but also because our tardiness honestly had nothing to do with anything other than a lack of foresight by everyone except for us!
Not sure if classes themselves are actually more relaxed or if it was my 'Saturday' mentality but anyways I managed to make it through three, two hour classes with out a whole lot of problems. By this I mean I was left alone for the good majority of the time and simply allowed the students to talk and ask me silly questions rather than force them to 'do' their unproductive workbook that accomplishes nothing more than boring every involved party to near death.
My biggest problem now is that for my Monday and Tuesday classes we have finished the Superb books and have no set material for class. This is exciting in one sense because the Superb books are simply anything but. This is also extremely frustrating as now I have to come up with some sort of 'lesson' to pass six hours of class time (or, three classes of two hours each). I have done debate articles and simple side lessons (such as Mardi Gras Trivia) but nothing along the lines of taking up a full two hour class period. So what am I going to do? Well, that remains to be seen. Today is my one day of rest a week and as a devote student of Judaic principles I feel that it is my obligation to observe the Sabbath by resting. . .aside from my soccer game.
On that note, SSFL's Spring Season has started up and we're already two weeks under way with a revamped Spitfire squad. Last week we allowed a fluke goal in the last few seconds that sealed our defeat against the number one ranked Jokers (final score 2-1). Not a bad showing for our first day out however as we were predicted to lose by double digits on the league's forum. Today's game was almost as disappointing as 90 minutes of incredible soccer yielded nothing but a 0-0 draw against the International Storm. Again playing a topped ranked team in our league, coming out with a clean sheet on the defense end says something for those of us in the back (*cough cough*). Now it's just time for our forwards to start sealing the deal.
That's it for now, only two more weeks of this random spring 'intensive.' Then our 'special' R&D classes begin. Not entirely sure what these are really except that students have to pay extra for them and that our names our actually on the sign up forms. This means students, and their parents, have to actually make a conscious effort to pay DYB extra to take 'my' class. Exciting but also nerve racking as I again face the problem of what the heck am I supposed to do.
Oh, all that and as of today (Sunday) I've been in Korea 200 days. . . .as one of my students keenly pointed out, that means only 165 to go. Not that I'm counting. . . .
Though, to be honest, it's really like a five day week with a guest appearance for two hours on a sixth day. Although I spent all of Saturday (yep, six hours of in class time) complaining to my students about my first 'working weekend', I realized that at my previous job (which I had almost four years ago now) I used to work Saturdays all the time. The only difference is that I would walk out of work with a couple hundred dollars of cash in my pocket to go spend on milkshakes by the beach the next day. . .the rewards were a bit more, well, tangible I guess.
Okay, so I'm lying even further. I didn't quite put in a six hour day Saturday as I showed up half 'n hour late for work. Oops!
At around quarter to two on a beautiful Saturday afternoon Nate and I headed off to the Bagel Shop to grab breakfast. Dressed in my sleepwear, I figured I could have a bite to eat then take a short 'nature walk' before heading into work. Who knew my plans would fall through so quickly.
Immediately after I placed my order, I received a frantic call from David, Junggye's other FT who is also supposedly our 'Team Leader.' Here's how it went. . .
Yo, Adam, like, where are you dude!?
Um, at the bagel shop getting breakfast. Why?
You know you have a class right now, right?
Um, no? What time is it.
It's two o'clock.
Yeah, okay, I don't have class until 4:30.
No dude, you have class right now, you gotta come in.
Uh, okay, I just ordered food though and I'm in sweat pants so it'll take me a bit.
Well, hurry up I guess.
Okay? See you in fifteen or twenty.
Alright. Wait, do you know where Nathan is?
Yeah, right next to me, I'll tell him, don't worry.
Oh yeah, okay, good, he has class.
Yep.
Though we ate more quickly than usual, I didn't exactly make any attempts to fly in to work that minute, figuring that I'd be then when I got there. What doesn't quite make sense is that we are supposed to report to work half 'n hour early yet nobody decided to call until class had actually begun and we were still absent. . . welcome to Korea.
Scarfed down a bagel sandwich, burned my mouth on a cup of coffee (not true, since living in Korea I can practically eat fire without it having any negative effects on the condition of my mouth), and headed back towards Doota. I decided that I'd stick with the 'hurried' in to work theme leaving on my Tulane sweatshirt and simply sliding into a pair of jeans (and brushing my teeth) before heading back out the door.
Got to work around 2:30pm after double checking that I was correct in reading my schedule that says Saturday I have class from 4:30-10:30pm. . . it's amazing that I would assume I had work at that time. Silly me.
Anna caught us coming in and apologized for any confusion. As I suspected we were reprimanded at all, partly because we dodged the front office but also because our tardiness honestly had nothing to do with anything other than a lack of foresight by everyone except for us!
Not sure if classes themselves are actually more relaxed or if it was my 'Saturday' mentality but anyways I managed to make it through three, two hour classes with out a whole lot of problems. By this I mean I was left alone for the good majority of the time and simply allowed the students to talk and ask me silly questions rather than force them to 'do' their unproductive workbook that accomplishes nothing more than boring every involved party to near death.
My biggest problem now is that for my Monday and Tuesday classes we have finished the Superb books and have no set material for class. This is exciting in one sense because the Superb books are simply anything but. This is also extremely frustrating as now I have to come up with some sort of 'lesson' to pass six hours of class time (or, three classes of two hours each). I have done debate articles and simple side lessons (such as Mardi Gras Trivia) but nothing along the lines of taking up a full two hour class period. So what am I going to do? Well, that remains to be seen. Today is my one day of rest a week and as a devote student of Judaic principles I feel that it is my obligation to observe the Sabbath by resting. . .aside from my soccer game.
On that note, SSFL's Spring Season has started up and we're already two weeks under way with a revamped Spitfire squad. Last week we allowed a fluke goal in the last few seconds that sealed our defeat against the number one ranked Jokers (final score 2-1). Not a bad showing for our first day out however as we were predicted to lose by double digits on the league's forum. Today's game was almost as disappointing as 90 minutes of incredible soccer yielded nothing but a 0-0 draw against the International Storm. Again playing a topped ranked team in our league, coming out with a clean sheet on the defense end says something for those of us in the back (*cough cough*). Now it's just time for our forwards to start sealing the deal.
That's it for now, only two more weeks of this random spring 'intensive.' Then our 'special' R&D classes begin. Not entirely sure what these are really except that students have to pay extra for them and that our names our actually on the sign up forms. This means students, and their parents, have to actually make a conscious effort to pay DYB extra to take 'my' class. Exciting but also nerve racking as I again face the problem of what the heck am I supposed to do.
Oh, all that and as of today (Sunday) I've been in Korea 200 days. . . .as one of my students keenly pointed out, that means only 165 to go. Not that I'm counting. . . .
Friday, February 27, 2009
Blind Sided
They sure do know how to celebrate your six months here at DYB. . .
Taking off from New Orleans at 4:41pm Tuesday afternoon, I didn't arrive in Seoul until 6:05am, Thursday morning, two days later. Where did Wednesday go? Well, I can't exactly say but it sure didn't happen this year!
I quickly gathered my bags then stumbled through customs half asleep and fully jet lagged. Two hours, three subways and a short taxi ride later, I arrived at Dootavill. I managed to get in a quick shower and wash off three days of traveling before heading to work at 9:30am.
Here come the fun surprises. . .
I was immediately greeted at work by Anna who told me she had some surprising news. I informed her that I too had a surprise for her and pulled out a string of giant beads that seriously set her eyes a glow. Too bad her surprise wasn't quite as nice.
She took me in to her room and after about five minutes of beating around the bush, finally decided to tell me that I had been scheduled to work six days a week for the next three weeks. Well, that's what it sounded like at least. To be honest, she told me a whole bunch of different things, the majority of which I didn't quite grasp, partly because of the language barrier and partly because I was using every ounce of strength in me not to collapse right there and fall asleep.
I told Anna that I was somewhat aware of the situation as Yumi (head secretary?) had shot me an e-mail at around 7:30am that I just happened to glance at on my way in. I told her that I consider it and get back to Yumi by tomorrow. . . this was not accepted.
Anna informed me that my decision had to be made by 1:00pm as they had to fax the finalized schedules over to the Main Branch before the end of the day. Uh huh. Okay. With no energy to argue and no real desire to do so at that time, I agreed to the revised schedule which has me working two extra hours on a sixth day of the week.
It wasn't until later in the afternoon when Joseph came to confirm the schedule with me that I learned my sixth day was not what I had originally imagined. Apparently, due to the new semester (and the consolidation of the Middle School and Elementary School in to one building) Joseph scheduled me to work a five day week from Tuesday through Saturday. As for my sixth day? Well, I'm expected to come in to work Monday evening for two hours. Now this I didn't see coming. . .
With Joseph literally getting on his knees begging me to accept the schedule, I agreed but informed him that I would be responding to Yumi's e-mail later that evening with my concerns.
After finally 'resolving' the scheduling issue, I headed towards the Native room to try and take a few minutes to myself. Immediately after settling into a seat, Terry Teacher burst in to the room with more surprises. Apparently, one of the subs had failed to show up last week which means my students didn't get a speaking/writing lesson (not that they actually do when I'm there anyways). So, she requested, or, more rightly informed me that I would have to make the class up tomorrow (Friday) morning during my two hour essay period.
As the missed class is one of my best I agreed figuring that I could simply kill time talking about my trip and it's not like I was actually adding hours to my day. Before leaving though, Terry turns around and hands me another stack of about 50 essays and ask that I get them to her as soon as I can. Ha! This coming immediately after her telling me to utilize my essay time to teach her class. . .umm, sorry but not going to have time this week.
Oh, and on the topic of essay time. . . During our first few months here, I was originally scheduled for four hours of essay time each week. Sometimes I would have plenty of essays to keep me busy and other times I would have a bit of freedom but, in the end, it all evened out really well. During Winter Intensive, my essay time was cut down to two hours. Not a huge deal as I decided not to assign essays. However, Terry Teacher and Eun Kyung (whom I only worked with for two weeks) decided that they needed to assign essays and then give them to me for grading. Not a huge problem except for the fact that all of a sudden one day I had a stack of 50 essays sitting around and only two hours a week to work on them.
Now, I've missed my essay time the past two weeks (once due to vacation and once due to Terry's rescheduling me) and have accumulated probably around 100 essays. So, what can I do but slowly chip away at them during my essay time as I simply refuse to take home work to grade that I did not assign and that I know the kids do not look at/care about. Oh wait, herein lies the problem. My schedule for the next three weeks and the one for beyond that include exactly zero hours of essay time. Hmmm, well, not only does this mean I'm teaching four 'extra' hours a week but that I have no allotted in school time to grade. . . starting to sound like teaching in Korea yet?
Anyways, after conking out at 7:00pm Thursday evening I popped up at around five in the morning unable to get back to sleep. Thus, I figured I'd shoot Yumi and e-mail. After reviewing my contract I reconfirmed my inklings that I would be paid overtime for my extra two hours but that the overtime is only a few won an hour over my regular pay. With only two extra hours of work on Monday, I would essentially be making only an extra 8,000 won (or about $5) each week to miss out on a second day of rest. This hardly seems worth it!
Thus I informed Yumi that I would be more than willing to accept the new schedule if Mr. Lee would pay me an overtime rate of double my current hourly wage; informing her that it is both customary and actually mandated by law (right?) in the US. Content with my demands, I lay back down for a few hours until I had to get up to go back to work.
Halfway through my Friday class while taking a break, Joseph comes barging in screaming "Aaadaaaam, whiiiieeeee!?!!!" Apparently Yumi had contacted him. For about twenty minutes I tried to negotiate with Joseph who continually reassured me that no ground would be given by the Main Branch, especially as my contract stipulates the overtime rate which, of course, I had no qualms about when signing a contract assuming that I would not be working overtime. We went through the different possibilities, including me demanding extra vacation days for working extra days, and finally decided on, well, nothing.
Joseph assured me that it would be okay if I refused the extra hours but that he would have to change my schedule again such that my two full days of break would be not consecutive but one on Sunday and the other Friday. Well, that sounds even worse that an extra two hours that I'd at least get paid for so I finally consented. More so to get Joseph off of his knees and hanging on my arm than anything.
So, that's where we stand right now. I'm working an extra two hours a week on Monday as Saturday has apparently been added to my schedule. I have a stack of essays as thick as my school bag but no time allotted to do them. Oh, and our Native Room was literally cut in half yesterday. We showed up for work and our spacious naturally lit room was suddenly filled with enormous shelving units that reduced our work area down to the size of a narrow hallway. Not only that but the elementary school is moving in to our building next week which means we'll be sharing the room with an extra one or two Native Teachers. . . sound fun?
As for the consolidation? Well, I can't be sure of anything but the future doesn't look too bright for DYB's Junggye Branch. Earlier this month Razer talked to us about how Korean Teachers are receiving not only pay cuts but an increase in work load. . .hmm, sounds like a great way to cut costs and lose employees. . . .and that's exactly what's starting to happen. Well, not exactly starting, but, continuing at least!
In the few short days I was gone DYB experienced one of it's highest turnover periods that I've witnessed. First of all, we all went out to lunch yesterday to 'celebrate' Claire's departure from the school. The way this event was described was that she had gotten sick last week and decided to take a few months off to get better. Even though she had miraculously recovered in a week (from a cold mind you) she decided it would be better to take some time to 'recharge,' and move on. Interesting timing as she has just hit her one year mark with DYB and six months exactly at Junggye as her first day of work coincided with ours.
Looking at the Native Teacher schedule it was brought to my attention that the New Hiree, Joseph, was also being 'let go,' supposedly, as Nate found out, because he talked about Canada too much. . .now, I can't exactly vouch for the validity of this statement but it sure seems like a great excuse to lighten the payroll! Oh that and Nate also told me that 17 other foreign teachers had been cut from DYB during the past week. . .whoa, well, we made it through the first round of downsizing! That must mean something about our ability!
Finally, towards the end of the day we were both shocked, but somewhat excited to hear that Sunny, our always cheery secretary, had decided to move on and accept a position teaching theater at a local highschool! Now this is exciting as she finally gets to do something that she clearly loves versus working long hours with no breaks for DYB which didn't even allow her to attend the New Years Party for which she choreographed our DYB Dance.
Oh, and, as I've mentioned, the elementary school is moving into our middle school, clearly to save money on rent and also in part probably due to the severe drop in enrollment numbers that have been obvious for a while now.
Yesterday the best student in the school, D.J., showed up to my class even though I had already seen him this week. I asked him why he was here and he informed me that he came to say goodbye as he was moving on to the 'very famous Topia Academy.' I tried to get him to explain why but he either didn't want to or couldn't quite do so. It didn't seem to have anything to do with me which was good to know but still somewhat disconcerting. D.J. has not always been the top student but since 2Kutz (also known as Yu-Jin) and Lisa left (both of whom previously held top honors, and no, this is not me ranking the kids, the staff actually does this) he has held the role for the past few months.
What a welcome back party huh!? I just got an e-mail from our recruiter, Scot Sustad, trying to encourage me through my 'six month lull.' It sounded like great advice at first but to be honest, it doesn't seem like a whole lot of what's going on is in my control. I figure if I can make it through six days a week then I'll be able to handle anything they throw at me. . .or, maybe I'll just get sick and quit. . . either way, I guess it's time to start planning the next step. . . .
Oh, and in other news, it doesn't look like I made the 50 person shortlist for The Best Job! To be honest, I didn't expect much after viewing my completed video. . .it was far from an artistic masterpiece but at least I now have taken a crash course in video editing! Thank you so much though to Nate who helped me film and Jay, along with my Dad, who helped to edit and upload the video from my computer in Seoul while they were in China and I was at The Gras! What a team effort it was and I really appreciate all the continued assistance. . .
But hey, if you hear about any island jobs opening up, thanks in advance for letting me know, I'd love to look into 'em!
Taking off from New Orleans at 4:41pm Tuesday afternoon, I didn't arrive in Seoul until 6:05am, Thursday morning, two days later. Where did Wednesday go? Well, I can't exactly say but it sure didn't happen this year!
I quickly gathered my bags then stumbled through customs half asleep and fully jet lagged. Two hours, three subways and a short taxi ride later, I arrived at Dootavill. I managed to get in a quick shower and wash off three days of traveling before heading to work at 9:30am.
Here come the fun surprises. . .
I was immediately greeted at work by Anna who told me she had some surprising news. I informed her that I too had a surprise for her and pulled out a string of giant beads that seriously set her eyes a glow. Too bad her surprise wasn't quite as nice.
She took me in to her room and after about five minutes of beating around the bush, finally decided to tell me that I had been scheduled to work six days a week for the next three weeks. Well, that's what it sounded like at least. To be honest, she told me a whole bunch of different things, the majority of which I didn't quite grasp, partly because of the language barrier and partly because I was using every ounce of strength in me not to collapse right there and fall asleep.
I told Anna that I was somewhat aware of the situation as Yumi (head secretary?) had shot me an e-mail at around 7:30am that I just happened to glance at on my way in. I told her that I consider it and get back to Yumi by tomorrow. . . this was not accepted.
Anna informed me that my decision had to be made by 1:00pm as they had to fax the finalized schedules over to the Main Branch before the end of the day. Uh huh. Okay. With no energy to argue and no real desire to do so at that time, I agreed to the revised schedule which has me working two extra hours on a sixth day of the week.
It wasn't until later in the afternoon when Joseph came to confirm the schedule with me that I learned my sixth day was not what I had originally imagined. Apparently, due to the new semester (and the consolidation of the Middle School and Elementary School in to one building) Joseph scheduled me to work a five day week from Tuesday through Saturday. As for my sixth day? Well, I'm expected to come in to work Monday evening for two hours. Now this I didn't see coming. . .
With Joseph literally getting on his knees begging me to accept the schedule, I agreed but informed him that I would be responding to Yumi's e-mail later that evening with my concerns.
After finally 'resolving' the scheduling issue, I headed towards the Native room to try and take a few minutes to myself. Immediately after settling into a seat, Terry Teacher burst in to the room with more surprises. Apparently, one of the subs had failed to show up last week which means my students didn't get a speaking/writing lesson (not that they actually do when I'm there anyways). So, she requested, or, more rightly informed me that I would have to make the class up tomorrow (Friday) morning during my two hour essay period.
As the missed class is one of my best I agreed figuring that I could simply kill time talking about my trip and it's not like I was actually adding hours to my day. Before leaving though, Terry turns around and hands me another stack of about 50 essays and ask that I get them to her as soon as I can. Ha! This coming immediately after her telling me to utilize my essay time to teach her class. . .umm, sorry but not going to have time this week.
Oh, and on the topic of essay time. . . During our first few months here, I was originally scheduled for four hours of essay time each week. Sometimes I would have plenty of essays to keep me busy and other times I would have a bit of freedom but, in the end, it all evened out really well. During Winter Intensive, my essay time was cut down to two hours. Not a huge deal as I decided not to assign essays. However, Terry Teacher and Eun Kyung (whom I only worked with for two weeks) decided that they needed to assign essays and then give them to me for grading. Not a huge problem except for the fact that all of a sudden one day I had a stack of 50 essays sitting around and only two hours a week to work on them.
Now, I've missed my essay time the past two weeks (once due to vacation and once due to Terry's rescheduling me) and have accumulated probably around 100 essays. So, what can I do but slowly chip away at them during my essay time as I simply refuse to take home work to grade that I did not assign and that I know the kids do not look at/care about. Oh wait, herein lies the problem. My schedule for the next three weeks and the one for beyond that include exactly zero hours of essay time. Hmmm, well, not only does this mean I'm teaching four 'extra' hours a week but that I have no allotted in school time to grade. . . starting to sound like teaching in Korea yet?
Anyways, after conking out at 7:00pm Thursday evening I popped up at around five in the morning unable to get back to sleep. Thus, I figured I'd shoot Yumi and e-mail. After reviewing my contract I reconfirmed my inklings that I would be paid overtime for my extra two hours but that the overtime is only a few won an hour over my regular pay. With only two extra hours of work on Monday, I would essentially be making only an extra 8,000 won (or about $5) each week to miss out on a second day of rest. This hardly seems worth it!
Thus I informed Yumi that I would be more than willing to accept the new schedule if Mr. Lee would pay me an overtime rate of double my current hourly wage; informing her that it is both customary and actually mandated by law (right?) in the US. Content with my demands, I lay back down for a few hours until I had to get up to go back to work.
Halfway through my Friday class while taking a break, Joseph comes barging in screaming "Aaadaaaam, whiiiieeeee!?!!!" Apparently Yumi had contacted him. For about twenty minutes I tried to negotiate with Joseph who continually reassured me that no ground would be given by the Main Branch, especially as my contract stipulates the overtime rate which, of course, I had no qualms about when signing a contract assuming that I would not be working overtime. We went through the different possibilities, including me demanding extra vacation days for working extra days, and finally decided on, well, nothing.
Joseph assured me that it would be okay if I refused the extra hours but that he would have to change my schedule again such that my two full days of break would be not consecutive but one on Sunday and the other Friday. Well, that sounds even worse that an extra two hours that I'd at least get paid for so I finally consented. More so to get Joseph off of his knees and hanging on my arm than anything.
So, that's where we stand right now. I'm working an extra two hours a week on Monday as Saturday has apparently been added to my schedule. I have a stack of essays as thick as my school bag but no time allotted to do them. Oh, and our Native Room was literally cut in half yesterday. We showed up for work and our spacious naturally lit room was suddenly filled with enormous shelving units that reduced our work area down to the size of a narrow hallway. Not only that but the elementary school is moving in to our building next week which means we'll be sharing the room with an extra one or two Native Teachers. . . sound fun?
As for the consolidation? Well, I can't be sure of anything but the future doesn't look too bright for DYB's Junggye Branch. Earlier this month Razer talked to us about how Korean Teachers are receiving not only pay cuts but an increase in work load. . .hmm, sounds like a great way to cut costs and lose employees. . . .and that's exactly what's starting to happen. Well, not exactly starting, but, continuing at least!
In the few short days I was gone DYB experienced one of it's highest turnover periods that I've witnessed. First of all, we all went out to lunch yesterday to 'celebrate' Claire's departure from the school. The way this event was described was that she had gotten sick last week and decided to take a few months off to get better. Even though she had miraculously recovered in a week (from a cold mind you) she decided it would be better to take some time to 'recharge,' and move on. Interesting timing as she has just hit her one year mark with DYB and six months exactly at Junggye as her first day of work coincided with ours.
Looking at the Native Teacher schedule it was brought to my attention that the New Hiree, Joseph, was also being 'let go,' supposedly, as Nate found out, because he talked about Canada too much. . .now, I can't exactly vouch for the validity of this statement but it sure seems like a great excuse to lighten the payroll! Oh that and Nate also told me that 17 other foreign teachers had been cut from DYB during the past week. . .whoa, well, we made it through the first round of downsizing! That must mean something about our ability!
Finally, towards the end of the day we were both shocked, but somewhat excited to hear that Sunny, our always cheery secretary, had decided to move on and accept a position teaching theater at a local highschool! Now this is exciting as she finally gets to do something that she clearly loves versus working long hours with no breaks for DYB which didn't even allow her to attend the New Years Party for which she choreographed our DYB Dance.
Oh, and, as I've mentioned, the elementary school is moving into our middle school, clearly to save money on rent and also in part probably due to the severe drop in enrollment numbers that have been obvious for a while now.
Yesterday the best student in the school, D.J., showed up to my class even though I had already seen him this week. I asked him why he was here and he informed me that he came to say goodbye as he was moving on to the 'very famous Topia Academy.' I tried to get him to explain why but he either didn't want to or couldn't quite do so. It didn't seem to have anything to do with me which was good to know but still somewhat disconcerting. D.J. has not always been the top student but since 2Kutz (also known as Yu-Jin) and Lisa left (both of whom previously held top honors, and no, this is not me ranking the kids, the staff actually does this) he has held the role for the past few months.
What a welcome back party huh!? I just got an e-mail from our recruiter, Scot Sustad, trying to encourage me through my 'six month lull.' It sounded like great advice at first but to be honest, it doesn't seem like a whole lot of what's going on is in my control. I figure if I can make it through six days a week then I'll be able to handle anything they throw at me. . .or, maybe I'll just get sick and quit. . . either way, I guess it's time to start planning the next step. . . .
Oh, and in other news, it doesn't look like I made the 50 person shortlist for The Best Job! To be honest, I didn't expect much after viewing my completed video. . .it was far from an artistic masterpiece but at least I now have taken a crash course in video editing! Thank you so much though to Nate who helped me film and Jay, along with my Dad, who helped to edit and upload the video from my computer in Seoul while they were in China and I was at The Gras! What a team effort it was and I really appreciate all the continued assistance. . .
But hey, if you hear about any island jobs opening up, thanks in advance for letting me know, I'd love to look into 'em!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Blackout
Just a brief note here, I promise.
At school Tuesday morning I was surprised by Joseph bursting into the Native room with a dolly full of large cardboard boxes. The boxes contained new electric fans/heaters for all the classrooms, including our 'office,' yippie! This was especially nice news as the heater that Cleo had donated to Nate and I upon her departure had suddenly vanished from our room only a few days later.
Well, no sooner than the new heaters had been distributed throughout the building did our little heater, from Cleo, magically reappear in our room. Apparently someone had only 'borrowed' it until a better option came along. . . thanks for returning it. . .I guess.
The reason for swapping out all the heaters is apparently because a single LPG tank that fueled the old 'stoves,' and had to be replaced frequently, was just about as expensive as a newfangled electric heater. Thus, the switch was made.
Unfortunately, someone most have either overlooked or care not to acknowledge the power sucking capacity of a dozen commercial sized electric heating machines. After minor power flickers in one of Nate's classrooms, we were warned that Nate and I were not to use our heater while Anna, in the room next door, had hers running. Great, so now we have heat. . .but have to ask our boss permission to turn it on. . . that's, um, not awkward!
On Wednesday morning, wrapping up the last of one of my classes, I was treated to the power surges that Nate had just told me about. The lights in our classroom went out for a brief moment the gently flickered on before returning to their darkened state. After about a minute of this back and forth tease the electricity-Gods eventually made up their mind to settle in the 'off' position.
Throwing open the door to salvage what little light I could from the hallway, I noticed that it was not only Anna's room that was dark but the main office and at least a half dozen other classrooms in our corner of the 'school.' (I use quotes here because we actually occupy the eighth floor of a pretty decent sized commercial center that one would never refer to as a 'school' less they knew none other than the inside of a Korean Hogwan.)
With a new class set to begin I recognized an opportunity to escape from under Anna's watchful eyes and quickly suggested to my students that we move class into the Native Room. With a wall of windows that looked out on to Bulamsan, we needed no artificial light to write by. Thus I cranked the heat on a salvaged gas stove and sat down around what normally serves as my and Nate's desk with three of my better students: Albert (the curious, questioning, too rich for his own good but doesn't really know it yet student with the attention span of a . . .oh, I dunno, me), Lena (one of Nate's better students that I thieved during her, I'm way taller than all the boys so I feel pretty awkward that not only can I outsmart them but beat them up too, phase) and Diane (who is simply Lena's sidekick as far as I can tell).
The three of us wasted no time digging right into the lesson and getting to work. . . just kidding, that's a terrible lie! With the better students, meaning those that I can actually converse with, I have no problem burning up the first part of an hour just shooting the breeze with them as I find that unstructured conversation is not only more interesting but actually more useful to their grasping of the language. Don't get me wrong, they have plenty of time to study grammar, sentence structure and 'rules' that I have never heard of, but with me, it's 'speaking' and 'writing', so I figure the more talking, the better, right!?!
We did eventually get down into the material which was surprisingly interesting for once as the students were prompted to discuss where they would rather live; in the mountains, or by the ocean. (Note that I say 'the students were prompted,' not 'I prompted the students' as the majority of what I do is simply read the prompts that are already in the textbook to them, which, with the better classes, means they are usually writing before I'm done 'teaching.') Annnyywhooo, what a perfect setting for discussing such an issue as right out the window sits one of northern-Seoul's beautiful alpine gems.
During the discussion it dawned on me that I had actually spent some time living 'near the ocean,' and no, I'm not talking about in the Dirty Dirty. . . that's only near the Gulf! Hearing the kids talk about palm trees reminded me that I once had the amazing privilege, thank you Aunt Barbie, of spending some time 'living' on a Caribbean Island! Telling my kids about my experience I couldn't tell who was more surprised; them, or me! Just talking about it brought up so many fantastic memories that I soon realized why I used to swear to myself that I would one day end up on an island similar to St. Thomas, for good! With the power back on, and our Native computer at hand, I dove at the opportunity to share with them my pictures from that summer that I had essentially forgotten in their entirety, assuming that they went up in flames with 1006. Not until they requested photos did I realize that I had an album, hidden away on this world wide interweb, that can still be accessed HERE!
So, even after the power came back on, Albert, Diane, Lena and I all elected to remain in our rather cozy newly adopted classroom. They students even agreed with me that natural light was best as Anna flicked the fluorescent on when coming to check in on everything!
All 'n all it was a pretty good day. . .despite being forced to hold a debate in a class of only one student! Maybe all I need to feel comfortable is a bit more of a natural setting, a couple students who are actually interested in learning and some natural lighting. Now, that's not too much to ask for is it!? It certainly isn't if you're in St. Thomas, Ghana or even New Orleans! Throw Korea into that group and you shouldn't have a hard time picking the 'odd one out,' on a number of different indices!
Happy Weekend, I'll tell you about the prison museum later though the post will likely show up below this one as I have already uploaded the pictures. . .hope you had a great first week of the year!
At school Tuesday morning I was surprised by Joseph bursting into the Native room with a dolly full of large cardboard boxes. The boxes contained new electric fans/heaters for all the classrooms, including our 'office,' yippie! This was especially nice news as the heater that Cleo had donated to Nate and I upon her departure had suddenly vanished from our room only a few days later.
Well, no sooner than the new heaters had been distributed throughout the building did our little heater, from Cleo, magically reappear in our room. Apparently someone had only 'borrowed' it until a better option came along. . . thanks for returning it. . .I guess.
The reason for swapping out all the heaters is apparently because a single LPG tank that fueled the old 'stoves,' and had to be replaced frequently, was just about as expensive as a newfangled electric heater. Thus, the switch was made.
Unfortunately, someone most have either overlooked or care not to acknowledge the power sucking capacity of a dozen commercial sized electric heating machines. After minor power flickers in one of Nate's classrooms, we were warned that Nate and I were not to use our heater while Anna, in the room next door, had hers running. Great, so now we have heat. . .but have to ask our boss permission to turn it on. . . that's, um, not awkward!
On Wednesday morning, wrapping up the last of one of my classes, I was treated to the power surges that Nate had just told me about. The lights in our classroom went out for a brief moment the gently flickered on before returning to their darkened state. After about a minute of this back and forth tease the electricity-Gods eventually made up their mind to settle in the 'off' position.
Throwing open the door to salvage what little light I could from the hallway, I noticed that it was not only Anna's room that was dark but the main office and at least a half dozen other classrooms in our corner of the 'school.' (I use quotes here because we actually occupy the eighth floor of a pretty decent sized commercial center that one would never refer to as a 'school' less they knew none other than the inside of a Korean Hogwan.)
With a new class set to begin I recognized an opportunity to escape from under Anna's watchful eyes and quickly suggested to my students that we move class into the Native Room. With a wall of windows that looked out on to Bulamsan, we needed no artificial light to write by. Thus I cranked the heat on a salvaged gas stove and sat down around what normally serves as my and Nate's desk with three of my better students: Albert (the curious, questioning, too rich for his own good but doesn't really know it yet student with the attention span of a . . .oh, I dunno, me), Lena (one of Nate's better students that I thieved during her, I'm way taller than all the boys so I feel pretty awkward that not only can I outsmart them but beat them up too, phase) and Diane (who is simply Lena's sidekick as far as I can tell).
The three of us wasted no time digging right into the lesson and getting to work. . . just kidding, that's a terrible lie! With the better students, meaning those that I can actually converse with, I have no problem burning up the first part of an hour just shooting the breeze with them as I find that unstructured conversation is not only more interesting but actually more useful to their grasping of the language. Don't get me wrong, they have plenty of time to study grammar, sentence structure and 'rules' that I have never heard of, but with me, it's 'speaking' and 'writing', so I figure the more talking, the better, right!?!
We did eventually get down into the material which was surprisingly interesting for once as the students were prompted to discuss where they would rather live; in the mountains, or by the ocean. (Note that I say 'the students were prompted,' not 'I prompted the students' as the majority of what I do is simply read the prompts that are already in the textbook to them, which, with the better classes, means they are usually writing before I'm done 'teaching.') Annnyywhooo, what a perfect setting for discussing such an issue as right out the window sits one of northern-Seoul's beautiful alpine gems.
During the discussion it dawned on me that I had actually spent some time living 'near the ocean,' and no, I'm not talking about in the Dirty Dirty. . . that's only near the Gulf! Hearing the kids talk about palm trees reminded me that I once had the amazing privilege, thank you Aunt Barbie, of spending some time 'living' on a Caribbean Island! Telling my kids about my experience I couldn't tell who was more surprised; them, or me! Just talking about it brought up so many fantastic memories that I soon realized why I used to swear to myself that I would one day end up on an island similar to St. Thomas, for good! With the power back on, and our Native computer at hand, I dove at the opportunity to share with them my pictures from that summer that I had essentially forgotten in their entirety, assuming that they went up in flames with 1006. Not until they requested photos did I realize that I had an album, hidden away on this world wide interweb, that can still be accessed HERE!
So, even after the power came back on, Albert, Diane, Lena and I all elected to remain in our rather cozy newly adopted classroom. They students even agreed with me that natural light was best as Anna flicked the fluorescent on when coming to check in on everything!
All 'n all it was a pretty good day. . .despite being forced to hold a debate in a class of only one student! Maybe all I need to feel comfortable is a bit more of a natural setting, a couple students who are actually interested in learning and some natural lighting. Now, that's not too much to ask for is it!? It certainly isn't if you're in St. Thomas, Ghana or even New Orleans! Throw Korea into that group and you shouldn't have a hard time picking the 'odd one out,' on a number of different indices!
Happy Weekend, I'll tell you about the prison museum later though the post will likely show up below this one as I have already uploaded the pictures. . .hope you had a great first week of the year!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Pardon the Interruption
A busy and rather turbulent Christmas Week culminated at a less than eventful Korean Teacher DYB party during which I played my first 'live music' ever, not counting that one song at Crunchy's. My parents arrived on Friday evening for a 'week' in Seoul. SSFL winter friendly matches began this Sunday followed by the beginning of DYB's "Winter Intensive" or "Winter Camp" only this Monday. Parents leave on Thursday, I'll finally get to sleep on Friday, hopefully, and I still haven't gotten around to polishing off the last three chapters of Atlas Shrugged. . .though I've sure 'learned' a lot in the process.
I'll elaborate, but hopefully not too much, on these events, and more, in the coming week. Poorly lit ski pictures to come too! Until then, enjoy a good book, or perhaps stop by another corner of this vast blogosphere. . . I hear it has unlimited information, and opinions, to offer.
Happy (almost) New Year
I'll elaborate, but hopefully not too much, on these events, and more, in the coming week. Poorly lit ski pictures to come too! Until then, enjoy a good book, or perhaps stop by another corner of this vast blogosphere. . . I hear it has unlimited information, and opinions, to offer.
Happy (almost) New Year
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"Mr. Song" by Junggye Branch
Mr. Song
by DYB Junggye Branch
[Adapted from and sung to the tune of "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows]
So I go to English hogwan in morning
Sha la la la la la la la yeah uh huh...
Caught up, with Cleo, taught me some o' them Hangeul phrases like
So pass me the soju, Mr. Song
Believe in me. Help me believe in D-Y-B
'Cause I want to be someone who achieves yeeah
Mr. Song and me read each other Time magazine and we
Teach all the beautiful children
"They're learning from you. Ah, no, now they're learning from me."
Smiling in the classroom, doing my best to keep control and
When all the children love you, it's not about the money I wanna paint my picture. Paint myself in D, Y, B you see
All of the wonderful teachers are very meaningful
Mr. Song is my favorite teacher, I felt so wonderful yesterday
If I knew Lee Myung-bak I would have him give the man an award and say
Mr. Song and me look into the future
See all the beautiful children
"They're learning from you. Yeah I think they're learning from we."
Standing in the classroom, I'm glad to be in Choisun
Well all the children love me, it's not about the money
It's not about the money, no
Not about the mooooneeeyy
I want to be Korean. Yeah, everybody wants to play as Reds.
We all want to be Choisun stars, but we got good reasons for that.
Believe in me because I believe in DYB
And I want to be someone to achieve, to achieve, to achieve yeeeah.
Mr. Song and me stumbling through the norebong
Yeah we stare at the beautiful teachers
"They're perfect for you, man, they're perfect for DYB."
I want to be Big Bang
Mr. Song wishes he was someone just a little more funky
Well everybody loves you, Mr. Song, that's just about as funky as you can be.
Mr. Song and me staring at the video
When I look at the television, I want to see Song staring right back at me.
We all want to be teachers, but we all know why, and we all know how.
Because all the children love me, Choisiun makes me as happy as I can be.
Mr. Song and me. . . we all love D. Y. B.
by DYB Junggye Branch
[Adapted from and sung to the tune of "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows]
I was down in Daechi-dong staring at this blonde-haired girl
Mr. Song strikes up a conversation with a black-haired arirang dancer
She dances while her father teaches hanguel, to native teachers
We all want to learn hanguel, man, I wish I knew hanguel
Mr. Song strikes up a conversation with a black-haired arirang dancer
She dances while her father teaches hanguel, to native teachers
We all want to learn hanguel, man, I wish I knew hanguel
So I go to English hogwan in morning
Sha la la la la la la la yeah uh huh...
Caught up, with Cleo, taught me some o' them Hangeul phrases like
Nanun ee hagwonee choayo (나 는 이 학원이 좋아요)
So pass me the soju, Mr. Song
Believe in me. Help me believe in D-Y-B
'Cause I want to be someone who achieves yeeah
Mr. Song and me read each other Time magazine and we
Teach all the beautiful children
"They're learning from you. Ah, no, now they're learning from me."
Smiling in the classroom, doing my best to keep control and
When all the children love you, it's not about the money
All of the wonderful teachers are very meaningful
Mr. Song is my favorite teacher, I felt so wonderful yesterday
If I knew Lee Myung-bak I would have him give the man an award and say
Mr. Song and me look into the future
See all the beautiful children
"They're learning from you. Yeah I think they're learning from we."
Standing in the classroom, I'm glad to be in Choisun
Well all the children love me, it's not about the money
It's not about the money, no
Not about the mooooneeeyy
I want to be Korean. Yeah, everybody wants to play as Reds.
We all want to be Choisun stars, but we got good reasons for that.
Believe in me because I believe in DYB
And I want to be someone to achieve, to achieve, to achieve yeeeah.
Mr. Song and me stumbling through the norebong
Yeah we stare at the beautiful teachers
"They're perfect for you, man, they're perfect for DYB."
I want to be Big Bang
Mr. Song wishes he was someone just a little more funky
Well everybody loves you, Mr. Song, that's just about as funky as you can be.
Mr. Song and me staring at the video
When I look at the television, I want to see Song staring right back at me.
We all want to be teachers, but we all know why, and we all know how.
Because all the children love me, Choisiun makes me as happy as I can be.
Mr. Song and me. . . we all love D. Y. B.
Foreign Teacher Christmas Party
Well. . .at least we didn't end up performing Britney Christmas carols! After our experience in DYB showmanship at the parent teacher meeting last Thursday, Nate and I decided that there were a few strategic moves we needed to make in order to put Junggye Branch in contention for winning the FT Talent Show.
First, whatever we did had to revolve around or at least liberally highlight our incredibly self. . .um, 'aware,' CEO, Mr. Song. Second, we had to make great mention of how wonderful of a company DYB is. Third, song and dance are always appreciated; the more involvement the better. Fourth, key concepts to include are 'teamwork' and 'family.'
With this information in mind, I set to work Thursday afternoon devising a fail-proof performance, as the majority of my students decided that they need not show up for academy after having just finished taking a dozen tests in four days. . .understandable!
As my previously mentioned Beatles>Marley>Counting Crows>Christmas Carol medley was shot down, I decided to refine it a bit, eventually whittling my choices down to two songs. Both were covers but with inventive 're-wording' to reflect that which Mr. Song holds so dear to his heart: himself, and DYB, also known as Choisun.
During the first break Nate caught up with me in the preliminary stages of my re-writing. He quickly looked over my work and suggested that my first option, 'No Hogwan, No Cry,' sounded a bit too depressing and even possibly anti-DYB. . .
I guess I can see where he's coming from. . .so, I dropped work on my Marley edit and turned my full attention to recreating the Counting Crows' "Mr. Jones," in to a Junggye Branch original creatively titled, "Mr. Song." I spent the next few hours trying to incorporate every little fact we had learned about Mr. Song that day into this ridiculous cover that was, by the end, set to make an impression. . .whether it would be a positive or offensive one was yet to be known! You can read a transcript of the final product below.
Although we had agreed to meet up with David and Sonya, from the elementary branch, after school, they both flaked out for some reason that I don't recall so Nate and I were left to practice alone over cheese ramyeon and chamchi gimbap. By the time we let the restaurant we had worked out the majority of syllabic kinks as well as reworded any stanzas that were possibly too offensive or easily misinterpreted!
Friday morning we were again set to meet with the rest of our 'team' though practice was again cancelled due to. . .well, I can't quite recall. Anyways, I brought the baby Taylor to work so Nate and I could give it a couple practice runs before school. After work we marched over to Parthenon, the elementary school, in hopes of catching our teammates before they could make a getaway!
Luckily we were successful! While neither David nor Sonya were very familiar with the song, they both at least recognized it and agreed to give it a go as it appeared that we had poured a lot of effort in to rewriting the whole thing (which I'd like to think I did but really it was more of a way to pass the time then any grueling labor I was needlessly committed to). With the four of us together we ran through it a couple times just to kind of explain the timing on some of the more obscure lyrics. Sonya was actually enthusiastic enough about the whole thing that she asked to take home a tape I had recorded of the lyrics in order to better memorize them!
After no more than 30 minutes together, hunger took the best of everyone and we headed our separate ways; Sonya towards home, David to QuickStop and we middle school teachers towards our semi-ritualistic Friday night BBQ.
Come Saturday I spent the morning running around Eunag Sa-Gori in preparation for a long day a head. After a breakfast stop at Bagel Street Deli (don't get me wrong, this is the only normal-esque 'restaurant' on the corner and it certainly is not a 'deli'), I went wandering in search of Santa hats. Before heading to bed on Friday, Nate kindly reminded me that I offered, albeit in a joking manner, to pick up this article of our team's 'costume' for everyone and thus was obliged to do so. While I feared being unable to locate such a silly accessory on our very academic block, I ended up finding my way to a stationary/junk store just down the street next to our favorite steamed kimchi joint. There I was able to pick up four matching Santa hats for 1,000 won each. . .with that type of price I think I'll go back and grab some more to spread throughout school next week!
After fulfilling my costume duties, which, was really the only errand I had to run, I swung by Home Mart (which actually I think is called Home Plus, but I never remember and always refer to is as the former no matter what) to pick up some breakfast food, stopping at Starbucks (mmmmm, corporate coffee tastes better, it's true) on the way back to devour a toffee nut latte (mmmmm, the advertised seasonal special tastes even better) and a chapter of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" which, halfway through, I have found myself more and more absorbed in with each page turn! <----helluva run on sentence huh!? Back at 'home' I painstakingly wrapped up my oh so sly secret Santa present(a wonderfully cute Korean winter hat that consists of an animal head attached to two long paws that act not only as gloves but can be wrapped around one's neck as a scarf as well) in the excess paper I had bought the other day. Showering and getting dressed to impress I was ready to head out by half past two. Why so early?! Well because we certainly couldn't forgo DYB Song practice just because the majority of us had an FT Party to attend! Before heading off to Gunja for band practice, Nate, Sonya, David and I all met up at the middle school to run through "Mr. Song" a few more times. Though we were far from perfect, we decided that the lyrics themselves would be more than enough to pull us through, especially if we distributed copies of them throughout the crowd and asked everybody to participate in a sing-a-long in the name of DYB 'teamwork.' Bonus points!
Again Razer insisted on driving to band practice which meant we showed up half 'n hour late as opposed to arriving almost exactly on time as the subway would have gotten us there in under half 'n hour! Oh well! Unfortunately, no one's, or at least not my, mind was on the DYB Song as I continually fretted about our performance that evening. In turn, I managed to botch our rehearsal so badly that Razer is now insisting on a four hour practice this upcoming Saturday. . .mind you we have one song. . .one, song. . . I'm not quite sure he understands the concept of complacency though I've yet to address the issue!
Making it through a painfully disconnected rehearsal Nate and I hopped on the subway towards Daechi while Sonya drove home to change (David had headed out early for a Team Leader meeting). Meeting up with two seemingly lost FT's in the subway, identified by their bright orange DYB backpacks, we headed up towards the surface with no real clue as to where to go. With directions from David, that at first led us in the wrong direction, we eventually found the Grill One Steak House no more than five minutes past the seven o'clock meeting time. Nevertheless, Mr. Lee was outside waiting with a cigarette as we showed up and ushered us in impatiently indicating that we were late. . .clearly not a big deal!
Nate and I were shown to a large booth just inside the door where David sat with three other teachers, all of whom appeared to be Korean-American, as are what seems the majority of DYB FT's. We introduced ourselves to Don, Joe (I believe, but am not certain now), and Esther, the last of whom apparently remembered meeting us at the morning meeting we had in Daechi a few weeks ago where I was too sleepy to possibly remember anyone's name! Sorry!
We asked how the dinner thing was working as they pointed us to a 'buffet' lined up on a rolling bus boy cart. Having only a bagel on the day (intentionally saving room for what we believe was to be an all you can eat steak event) Nate and I dove at the food cart only to come up inexplicably disappointed. In place of steak we found what were seriously unidentifiable chunks of meet that must have been at least equal part bone. As we stood, staring at this 'spread' in utter disbelief, Mr. Lee came up from behind, reassuring us that the bone was the good part as we could suck the meat off it. . .sure, I'll try.
I took a few small pieces back to the table and gave up after the first one was nothing but fat mixed in with a few hard chunks of cartilage. Only after had Nate and I both retired from trying to consume any more did someone politely inform us that we were eating pig feet. Well what a wonderful way to start off a steak dinner! We looked at each other in shock, not sure whether or not we were expected to accept this unkosher (in more ways than one) dish as a full meal.
David reassured us that there would be more food as Mr. Lee had previously informed him that we were to dine on tuna later in the night. In fact, Mr. Lee claimed that he had purchased the finest, most expensive tuna on all of Jeju Island to serve to us this evening. Not sure if you're catching on to the theme here but anytime Mr. Lee gives you anything, it is always of the utmost quality and unbelievably expensive. . .or so he claims. . . kinda like the zip tie I borrowed.
It turns out we did end up getting some tuna sashimi which was a wonderful surprise following the pigs feet but undoubtedly not the finest tuna in all the land. While I have a hard time knocking a tasty slice of raw fish, it is pretty clear that the finest tuna cuts are the dark red tender bits (who knows where they come from) and not the tough stringy lighter colored stuff that we were served. While there is probably a tuna expert out there who is scoffing at my lack of tuna-wledge, I ascribed to what tastes better, is better, and thus, this was not the best tuna in the land!
Finally, after what must have been an hour wait, we were eventually served our 'steak' dinner! While what we got was indeed steak, I was hardly enthralled at my 8oz sirloin as all night Nate and I had been staring at a poster of a huge cut of what could only be the worlds most succulent tenderloin. Apparently that was just an advertisement! Don't get me wrong, I am not that much of a food snob that I'll turn my mouth up at a cheap steak but, if you're advertising a great steak dinner. . .make it a great steak dinner! No worries, we ended up being ordered seconds as Sonya thought it would be a good idea for Nate and I to eat more so she could take our fatty scraps for her cockier spaniel. . . talk about a win win situation!
The night progressed rather uneventfully for a while until the talent show began at which point all hell broke loose. Aside from giving you a video recap of the evening, which apologize for not being able to do, (Nate's camera ran out of battery at the first shot I tried to take of the tuna head on a platter next to the pig's feet) there is little that I can say to describe the progression of the night. . .so I'll spare you my never ending prose and break it down to the important details.
The first group to go was a two some, with a man playing classical guitar while the woman sang Dido's "Thank You." While her singing was rather impressive, you simply can't entertain a room full of drunk FT's with an un-miced classical guitar. . .though going first, they did have the benefit of a majority of the teacher's attention.
The next group to go performed some sort of skit/song about Winter Intensive to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas.
Another group did a short, but engaging performance where the first team member took a shot of soju, the second two, and the third an entire bottle! While this hardly falls in to the category of 'talent' (though a whole soju bottle might if you've ever tasted soju) it certainly was entertaining.
The only other group, besides us of course, that really brought down the house was that of Daechi, the Main Branch. While I cannot explain exactly what they did, because a) I didn't care to watch and b) I don't care to remember. . .I can tell you it involved a good amount of fat male quasi nudity with Christmas-bell-to-nipple attachments. . . .entertaining yes. . .appalling, equally so!
Finally it was our turn. . .standing front and center I managed to hold the audience with my stage banter just long for Nate to finish up passing out our lyrics sheets after putting in a good solid half 'n hour of schmoozing to Mr. Song. To be honest, our performance went great. . .for the first verse at least. . . beyond that. . .who knows what happened. . .all I can say is that we earned a great deal of applause and Mr. Song was standing, whooping it up by the time we finished, entirely off beat, uncoordinated and equally lost from one another!
As far as I remember, though I didn't particularly give it much attention, no one that followed us challenged our performance in anyway. Thus, from what we gathered, we finished in second place to the obscene, and I do mean obscene, performance of Daechi's male revue.
I could go on about Mr. Song haphazardly accepting his gift of a tie that we all pitched in for, talking about how he took it with out really acknowledging it then later wrapped it around his head . . .but it just doesn't matter if you weren't there. Same as I could tell you about how Mr. Song continually attacked Mr. Lee as incomprehensible in each of his numerous speeches (which is true by the way). Or even how Mr. Song decided that it would be a good idea to bring up the only GI in the room to congratulate him, putting him on the spot with nothing to say and no clue as to what really was going on. But these are all events that just don't really make sense unless you're there. . . in which case they make even less sense which is why they are so fascinating. . . .Oh, not to mention, Mr. Song coming up to our table, early in the night before drinking, commenting on how he remembers us as Junggye, then pointing to David and saying 'Oh yes, you are very ugly,' and walking away without laughing or explanation. . . .No. . .not worth really delving into as this is just what happens in Korea.
Anyways, no prizes were awarded as Mr. Lee, and Mr. Song apparently decided that every body deserved a prize of 100,000 won that they promised us on the way out but we have yet to see a glimmer of. Oh well, as far as we know we came in second in the actual competition which is more than I could have hoped for practicing for our first time Friday evening. . .though I do hope for a better showing at the Korean Teacher Party in two weeks when we perform the DYB Song. . .though I can't imagine the teachers paying any more attention than they did this past weekend!
Anyways. . .I realize I just wrote a whole lot of nothing about nothing. . .but thanks for reading. . .actually, I dunno why I'd thank you for reading. . .other than it's interesting to look at my Google Analytics and see where you're reading from. . . To be honest. . .if you made it this far in this post you should probably invest in some tried and true literature cause you've clearly got some time on your hands! No, really, I'm just kidding, thanks for reading and Merry Pre-Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan and Lunar New Year (just kidding, the later is not until later January. . .duhhh)!
Enough, I'm done. . .I have yet to find out what happens to Taggart Transcontinental! If you know, please don't tell!
Who is John Galt anyways!?
First, whatever we did had to revolve around or at least liberally highlight our incredibly self. . .um, 'aware,' CEO, Mr. Song. Second, we had to make great mention of how wonderful of a company DYB is. Third, song and dance are always appreciated; the more involvement the better. Fourth, key concepts to include are 'teamwork' and 'family.'
With this information in mind, I set to work Thursday afternoon devising a fail-proof performance, as the majority of my students decided that they need not show up for academy after having just finished taking a dozen tests in four days. . .understandable!
As my previously mentioned Beatles>Marley>Counting Crows>Christmas Carol medley was shot down, I decided to refine it a bit, eventually whittling my choices down to two songs. Both were covers but with inventive 're-wording' to reflect that which Mr. Song holds so dear to his heart: himself, and DYB, also known as Choisun.
During the first break Nate caught up with me in the preliminary stages of my re-writing. He quickly looked over my work and suggested that my first option, 'No Hogwan, No Cry,' sounded a bit too depressing and even possibly anti-DYB. . .
No hogwan no cry (x4)
Say, say, I remember when we used to teach
Say, say, I remember when we used to teach
In a Choison acadmey in Junggye
Obba, observing 'de people walk
Across the street at Eunag sa-gori
Good teacha's we had
Oh, good teacha's we've lost
A-long da' way, ay, ay, ayyy
Obba, observing 'de people walk
Across the street at Eunag sa-gori
Good teacha's we had
Oh, good teacha's we've lost
A-long da' way, ay, ay, ayyy
In 'dis great future,
You can't forget your past
So dry your tears, I say
No hogwan no cry (x4)
You can't forget your past
So dry your tears, I say
No hogwan no cry (x4)
I guess I can see where he's coming from. . .so, I dropped work on my Marley edit and turned my full attention to recreating the Counting Crows' "Mr. Jones," in to a Junggye Branch original creatively titled, "Mr. Song." I spent the next few hours trying to incorporate every little fact we had learned about Mr. Song that day into this ridiculous cover that was, by the end, set to make an impression. . .whether it would be a positive or offensive one was yet to be known! You can read a transcript of the final product below.
Although we had agreed to meet up with David and Sonya, from the elementary branch, after school, they both flaked out for some reason that I don't recall so Nate and I were left to practice alone over cheese ramyeon and chamchi gimbap. By the time we let the restaurant we had worked out the majority of syllabic kinks as well as reworded any stanzas that were possibly too offensive or easily misinterpreted!
Friday morning we were again set to meet with the rest of our 'team' though practice was again cancelled due to. . .well, I can't quite recall. Anyways, I brought the baby Taylor to work so Nate and I could give it a couple practice runs before school. After work we marched over to Parthenon, the elementary school, in hopes of catching our teammates before they could make a getaway!
Luckily we were successful! While neither David nor Sonya were very familiar with the song, they both at least recognized it and agreed to give it a go as it appeared that we had poured a lot of effort in to rewriting the whole thing (which I'd like to think I did but really it was more of a way to pass the time then any grueling labor I was needlessly committed to). With the four of us together we ran through it a couple times just to kind of explain the timing on some of the more obscure lyrics. Sonya was actually enthusiastic enough about the whole thing that she asked to take home a tape I had recorded of the lyrics in order to better memorize them!
After no more than 30 minutes together, hunger took the best of everyone and we headed our separate ways; Sonya towards home, David to QuickStop and we middle school teachers towards our semi-ritualistic Friday night BBQ.
Come Saturday I spent the morning running around Eunag Sa-Gori in preparation for a long day a head. After a breakfast stop at Bagel Street Deli (don't get me wrong, this is the only normal-esque 'restaurant' on the corner and it certainly is not a 'deli'), I went wandering in search of Santa hats. Before heading to bed on Friday, Nate kindly reminded me that I offered, albeit in a joking manner, to pick up this article of our team's 'costume' for everyone and thus was obliged to do so. While I feared being unable to locate such a silly accessory on our very academic block, I ended up finding my way to a stationary/junk store just down the street next to our favorite steamed kimchi joint. There I was able to pick up four matching Santa hats for 1,000 won each. . .with that type of price I think I'll go back and grab some more to spread throughout school next week!
After fulfilling my costume duties, which, was really the only errand I had to run, I swung by Home Mart (which actually I think is called Home Plus, but I never remember and always refer to is as the former no matter what) to pick up some breakfast food, stopping at Starbucks (mmmmm, corporate coffee tastes better, it's true) on the way back to devour a toffee nut latte (mmmmm, the advertised seasonal special tastes even better) and a chapter of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" which, halfway through, I have found myself more and more absorbed in with each page turn! <----helluva run on sentence huh!? Back at 'home' I painstakingly wrapped up my oh so sly secret Santa present(a wonderfully cute Korean winter hat that consists of an animal head attached to two long paws that act not only as gloves but can be wrapped around one's neck as a scarf as well) in the excess paper I had bought the other day. Showering and getting dressed to impress I was ready to head out by half past two. Why so early?! Well because we certainly couldn't forgo DYB Song practice just because the majority of us had an FT Party to attend! Before heading off to Gunja for band practice, Nate, Sonya, David and I all met up at the middle school to run through "Mr. Song" a few more times. Though we were far from perfect, we decided that the lyrics themselves would be more than enough to pull us through, especially if we distributed copies of them throughout the crowd and asked everybody to participate in a sing-a-long in the name of DYB 'teamwork.' Bonus points!
Again Razer insisted on driving to band practice which meant we showed up half 'n hour late as opposed to arriving almost exactly on time as the subway would have gotten us there in under half 'n hour! Oh well! Unfortunately, no one's, or at least not my, mind was on the DYB Song as I continually fretted about our performance that evening. In turn, I managed to botch our rehearsal so badly that Razer is now insisting on a four hour practice this upcoming Saturday. . .mind you we have one song. . .one, song. . . I'm not quite sure he understands the concept of complacency though I've yet to address the issue!
Making it through a painfully disconnected rehearsal Nate and I hopped on the subway towards Daechi while Sonya drove home to change (David had headed out early for a Team Leader meeting). Meeting up with two seemingly lost FT's in the subway, identified by their bright orange DYB backpacks, we headed up towards the surface with no real clue as to where to go. With directions from David, that at first led us in the wrong direction, we eventually found the Grill One Steak House no more than five minutes past the seven o'clock meeting time. Nevertheless, Mr. Lee was outside waiting with a cigarette as we showed up and ushered us in impatiently indicating that we were late. . .clearly not a big deal!
Nate and I were shown to a large booth just inside the door where David sat with three other teachers, all of whom appeared to be Korean-American, as are what seems the majority of DYB FT's. We introduced ourselves to Don, Joe (I believe, but am not certain now), and Esther, the last of whom apparently remembered meeting us at the morning meeting we had in Daechi a few weeks ago where I was too sleepy to possibly remember anyone's name! Sorry!
We asked how the dinner thing was working as they pointed us to a 'buffet' lined up on a rolling bus boy cart. Having only a bagel on the day (intentionally saving room for what we believe was to be an all you can eat steak event) Nate and I dove at the food cart only to come up inexplicably disappointed. In place of steak we found what were seriously unidentifiable chunks of meet that must have been at least equal part bone. As we stood, staring at this 'spread' in utter disbelief, Mr. Lee came up from behind, reassuring us that the bone was the good part as we could suck the meat off it. . .sure, I'll try.
I took a few small pieces back to the table and gave up after the first one was nothing but fat mixed in with a few hard chunks of cartilage. Only after had Nate and I both retired from trying to consume any more did someone politely inform us that we were eating pig feet. Well what a wonderful way to start off a steak dinner! We looked at each other in shock, not sure whether or not we were expected to accept this unkosher (in more ways than one) dish as a full meal.
David reassured us that there would be more food as Mr. Lee had previously informed him that we were to dine on tuna later in the night. In fact, Mr. Lee claimed that he had purchased the finest, most expensive tuna on all of Jeju Island to serve to us this evening. Not sure if you're catching on to the theme here but anytime Mr. Lee gives you anything, it is always of the utmost quality and unbelievably expensive. . .or so he claims. . . kinda like the zip tie I borrowed.
It turns out we did end up getting some tuna sashimi which was a wonderful surprise following the pigs feet but undoubtedly not the finest tuna in all the land. While I have a hard time knocking a tasty slice of raw fish, it is pretty clear that the finest tuna cuts are the dark red tender bits (who knows where they come from) and not the tough stringy lighter colored stuff that we were served. While there is probably a tuna expert out there who is scoffing at my lack of tuna-wledge, I ascribed to what tastes better, is better, and thus, this was not the best tuna in the land!
Finally, after what must have been an hour wait, we were eventually served our 'steak' dinner! While what we got was indeed steak, I was hardly enthralled at my 8oz sirloin as all night Nate and I had been staring at a poster of a huge cut of what could only be the worlds most succulent tenderloin. Apparently that was just an advertisement! Don't get me wrong, I am not that much of a food snob that I'll turn my mouth up at a cheap steak but, if you're advertising a great steak dinner. . .make it a great steak dinner! No worries, we ended up being ordered seconds as Sonya thought it would be a good idea for Nate and I to eat more so she could take our fatty scraps for her cockier spaniel. . . talk about a win win situation!
The night progressed rather uneventfully for a while until the talent show began at which point all hell broke loose. Aside from giving you a video recap of the evening, which apologize for not being able to do, (Nate's camera ran out of battery at the first shot I tried to take of the tuna head on a platter next to the pig's feet) there is little that I can say to describe the progression of the night. . .so I'll spare you my never ending prose and break it down to the important details.
The first group to go was a two some, with a man playing classical guitar while the woman sang Dido's "Thank You." While her singing was rather impressive, you simply can't entertain a room full of drunk FT's with an un-miced classical guitar. . .though going first, they did have the benefit of a majority of the teacher's attention.
The next group to go performed some sort of skit/song about Winter Intensive to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas.
Another group did a short, but engaging performance where the first team member took a shot of soju, the second two, and the third an entire bottle! While this hardly falls in to the category of 'talent' (though a whole soju bottle might if you've ever tasted soju) it certainly was entertaining.
The only other group, besides us of course, that really brought down the house was that of Daechi, the Main Branch. While I cannot explain exactly what they did, because a) I didn't care to watch and b) I don't care to remember. . .I can tell you it involved a good amount of fat male quasi nudity with Christmas-bell-to-nipple attachments. . . .entertaining yes. . .appalling, equally so!
Finally it was our turn. . .standing front and center I managed to hold the audience with my stage banter just long for Nate to finish up passing out our lyrics sheets after putting in a good solid half 'n hour of schmoozing to Mr. Song. To be honest, our performance went great. . .for the first verse at least. . . beyond that. . .who knows what happened. . .all I can say is that we earned a great deal of applause and Mr. Song was standing, whooping it up by the time we finished, entirely off beat, uncoordinated and equally lost from one another!
As far as I remember, though I didn't particularly give it much attention, no one that followed us challenged our performance in anyway. Thus, from what we gathered, we finished in second place to the obscene, and I do mean obscene, performance of Daechi's male revue.
I could go on about Mr. Song haphazardly accepting his gift of a tie that we all pitched in for, talking about how he took it with out really acknowledging it then later wrapped it around his head . . .but it just doesn't matter if you weren't there. Same as I could tell you about how Mr. Song continually attacked Mr. Lee as incomprehensible in each of his numerous speeches (which is true by the way). Or even how Mr. Song decided that it would be a good idea to bring up the only GI in the room to congratulate him, putting him on the spot with nothing to say and no clue as to what really was going on. But these are all events that just don't really make sense unless you're there. . . in which case they make even less sense which is why they are so fascinating. . . .Oh, not to mention, Mr. Song coming up to our table, early in the night before drinking, commenting on how he remembers us as Junggye, then pointing to David and saying 'Oh yes, you are very ugly,' and walking away without laughing or explanation. . . .No. . .not worth really delving into as this is just what happens in Korea.
Anyways, no prizes were awarded as Mr. Lee, and Mr. Song apparently decided that every body deserved a prize of 100,000 won that they promised us on the way out but we have yet to see a glimmer of. Oh well, as far as we know we came in second in the actual competition which is more than I could have hoped for practicing for our first time Friday evening. . .though I do hope for a better showing at the Korean Teacher Party in two weeks when we perform the DYB Song. . .though I can't imagine the teachers paying any more attention than they did this past weekend!
Anyways. . .I realize I just wrote a whole lot of nothing about nothing. . .but thanks for reading. . .actually, I dunno why I'd thank you for reading. . .other than it's interesting to look at my Google Analytics and see where you're reading from. . . To be honest. . .if you made it this far in this post you should probably invest in some tried and true literature cause you've clearly got some time on your hands! No, really, I'm just kidding, thanks for reading and Merry Pre-Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan and Lunar New Year (just kidding, the later is not until later January. . .duhhh)!
Enough, I'm done. . .I have yet to find out what happens to Taggart Transcontinental! If you know, please don't tell!
Who is John Galt anyways!?
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