The first day of desk warming was pretty great... no classes to teach, no crazy students to control, no lesson planning. The second day, the novelty was beginning to wear off around 9:10am. I am now rounding the third straight week of no classes to teach and I have yet to find a solution to my boredom... I have however managed to waste hours and hours on the following websites:
- facebook (duh, I seriously hate/love this thing. Why do my news feeds consist of the same 15 people, and why are they all boring?)
- lamebook (terrible and terribly funny at the same time)
- google reader (the ten blogs that I subscribe to... these people cannot post fast enough to keep me entertained)
- various news sites (the guardian, the new york times, sometimes the onion)
- pitchfork (kinda lame since apple bought out lala and you can't listen to things for free)
- Maangchi's youtube videos (Korean cooking with a wacky Korean lady - with bad music in the background)
- facebook (again, yah.......)
- craigslist Seattle (rents really haven't gone down have they?)
Despite what you might think, it has occured to me to do something productive. I do sometimes take an occasional break from my computer staring, sigh-enducing stupor. Sometimes I play badminton with my elementary school students, or clean up my desk, or walk to the cafeteria to eat lunch. And luckily I am still doing yoga three times a week, otherwise I would really feel like a fat slob.
So, if you have any entertainment suggestions for the rest of my summer of desk warming, I owe you a facebook "like".
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Question
"Hey what's the first thing you'll do when you get back?" Number one question people ask me when I tell them I'm going back to the land of whole foods, real coffee, and expensive cab rides.
Number one answer:
Number one answer:
Friday, July 2, 2010
습기
I'm not sure of the exact analogy I would use to describe the affect of Korean monsoon humidity on me. But if I had to choose, I feel like a used-leftover-towelette-left-in-a-hot-car-parked-in-the-walmart-supercenter-parking-lot.
There's something really special about the weather here that manages to make me feel like I'm sweating ALL day. My walk to work leaves me dabbing a sweat-soaked kleenex to my already melted face and wishing there was a shower in my school.
Despite the humidity, we have had some epic thundershowers that put the rainy city of Seattle to shame. 6 straight hours of thunder, lightening, rain, and car alarms being set off by the storm - impressive.
There's something really special about the weather here that manages to make me feel like I'm sweating ALL day. My walk to work leaves me dabbing a sweat-soaked kleenex to my already melted face and wishing there was a shower in my school.
Despite the humidity, we have had some epic thundershowers that put the rainy city of Seattle to shame. 6 straight hours of thunder, lightening, rain, and car alarms being set off by the storm - impressive.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Your Head Very Small
When I first wore a baseball hat in little league, I learned I had a small head. Having given up hats for the most part, I had forgotten how my head size compared to everyone elses until I got to Korea. "Your head very small" is a common follow up to, or replacement for hello. The sunglasses saleswoman was the latest in the many culprits. I think it's a compliment (Korean celebrities tend to have comparatively smaller heads) but saying thank you just feels weird.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
What's in there?
"Ga-bang": Korean for bag. Gabang with popcicle stains on it.... it's really hot here, and hard to eat a popcicle on the bus.
Clockwise
1. Wallet - with lots of "man won" in it. "Man-won" = 10,000won (a little over $9.00USD)
2. Umbrella - carrying this around in case of the rain showers that are becoming more frequent as we enter the monsoon season.
3. Pencil case - a staple in every teacher's bag.
4. Foundation - lots of SPF.
5. iTouch - sometimes you just need to tune out all the students you see walking around the neighborhood..."OH! HI TEACHER!!!"
6. Oil strips - humidity has been over 60 % every day here for the past week... gross.
7. Gum - fights kimchi breath.
8. Free handphone - with handphone accessories : electronic bus pass and KIA Tigers themed screen cleaner.
9. 8GB USB - the number one thing I need to remember to bring to school because it contains all the ppts for my lessons... funny how such a tiny thing could be so valuable.
10. Lipgloss and chapstick - gotta keep them lips moist and glossed.
11. Sunglasses - to protect from the blazing sun on my walk to school at 7:30am. Sunglasses are a concept that most Koreans find weird or showy.
Conversation 1 -
Student: "Teacher, I saw you this morning wearing sunglasses."
Me: "Okay, so?"
Student: "Why?"
Me: ".....because it's f*ing sunny, duh!"
Conversation 2 -
Male co-worker: "Ah, Naomi, I saw you this morning wearing ....." indicates to his eyes and a kind of shading motion.
Me: "Yep, just trying to protect my eyes."
Male co-worker: "Oh, you looked like a movie star!"
Me: "......haha, okay!"
World Cup
This week I've been teaching my student's a dialogue about the world cup (see below). It also includes the Korean translation if you need/want to talk about the world cup in Korean.
Person A: Did you watch the game on Saturday?
너 토요일 경기 봤어?
Person B: Yeah, Korea won.
응. 한국이 이겼어.
Person A: Really? Was it a good game?
정말? 경기 훌륭했어?
Person B: Yes, Park JiSung scored 1 goal.
응, 박지성이 1골 넣었어
Person A: Wow! That’s great.
너 토요일 경기 봤어?
Person B: Yeah, Korea won.
응. 한국이 이겼어.
Person A: Really? Was it a good game?
정말? 경기 훌륭했어?
Person B: Yes, Park JiSung scored 1 goal.
응, 박지성이 1골 넣었어
Person A: Wow! That’s great.
와우, 멋진걸
In addition to talking about the world cup all week with my students - we (well, more me than V) also made a calendar time table. Unfortunately, South Korea is 7 hours ahead of South Africa so, most of the matches will be played at either 3:30am or 11pm... not so ideal for us 9-5ers.
Korea's world cup slogans are:
"Fighting Korea!" - "fighting" is konglish for "go" or "I support" or something along those lines....
"Shouting Korea!" - hmm... I dunno
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The big Q and A
Question: What do you do in Korea if wake up one morning, bend over to pick something up, and pull something in your back?
Answer: Go to Dr. Kang's Pain Clinic near Jeonnam National University.
Q: Why Dr. Kang's, when there are so many other hospitals closer to your home, you ask?
A: He speaks fluent English and even used the word "sedentary" during my consultation, he also has a very calm and kind bedside manner. And I didn't know this at the time, but Dr. Kang actually specializes in back pain in addition to his family practice.
Q: What did you do at the pain clinic?
A: I received a series of anti-inflammatory shots directly at the source of the pulled ligament. I also had, what Dr. Kang referred to as "electric shock therapy" (he might want to consider rephrasing this into a slightly less threatening expression). The "electric shock therapy" ended up being kind of like those electric chair massages but with more force and sharper contact.
Q: Did you get any cool drugs?
A: The perscription that I recieved was a mild anti-inflammatory combined with a very low, slow-release pain killer.
Q: How much did it cost?
A: The first visit (consult, shots, and physical therapy) was 17,400won and 2,000won for the perscription. The second visit (consult, one shot, and electric physical therapy, doctors note) was 15,300won and 2,500 for three days worth of pills.
Total for two visits and two perscriptions:
37,200won (about $30 US)
Q: How do I get there?
A: By bus: take any bus that goes to Jeonnam National University Backgate and walk south towards the end of the backgate. It's across the street from the Gwangju Buk Gu Chung (district office)
Answer: Go to Dr. Kang's Pain Clinic near Jeonnam National University.
Q: Why Dr. Kang's, when there are so many other hospitals closer to your home, you ask?
A: He speaks fluent English and even used the word "sedentary" during my consultation, he also has a very calm and kind bedside manner. And I didn't know this at the time, but Dr. Kang actually specializes in back pain in addition to his family practice.
Q: What did you do at the pain clinic?
A: I received a series of anti-inflammatory shots directly at the source of the pulled ligament. I also had, what Dr. Kang referred to as "electric shock therapy" (he might want to consider rephrasing this into a slightly less threatening expression). The "electric shock therapy" ended up being kind of like those electric chair massages but with more force and sharper contact.
Q: Did you get any cool drugs?
A: The perscription that I recieved was a mild anti-inflammatory combined with a very low, slow-release pain killer.
Q: How much did it cost?
A: The first visit (consult, shots, and physical therapy) was 17,400won and 2,000won for the perscription. The second visit (consult, one shot, and electric physical therapy, doctors note) was 15,300won and 2,500 for three days worth of pills.
Total for two visits and two perscriptions:
37,200won (about $30 US)
Q: How do I get there?
A: By bus: take any bus that goes to Jeonnam National University Backgate and walk south towards the end of the backgate. It's across the street from the Gwangju Buk Gu Chung (district office)
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