1) I woke up this morning to find a restaurant advertisement sitting in a frying pan on my gas range. Someone had pushed the flyer through the 1-inch crack in window above thee gas range, and it landed in my frying pan. Everyday my door is covered in ads for restaurants, internet or cable subscriptions, etc. I seldom take a second glance at these ads and usually there is a team of trash collectors that go down the street every few days to clean the advertisements off the street or tear them off the doors of uninterested residents.
That's one thing I've noticed in Korea - the excessive use of paper ads. Walking down the street everyday, I see young men or women flinging dozens of advertisements on the ground outside businesses, and I've even scene cards lying on the sidewalk advertising prostitutes or strip clubs. (On a related note, trash cans are far and few in between on the streets, so I typically see Koreans drop their trash onto the street).
Even though the street looks messy, and one could reasonably condemn Koreans for littering on a massive scale, somehow the streets are clean and paper-free the following morning.
2) I'm reading Chekhov's "Three Sisters" again. Here are some thoughts:
-Why do so many of Chekhov's characters turn into teachers and school administrators?
-Chekhov's plays are about the very act of living, how daily tasks, our everyday jobs and obligations wear us down.
-Is Natasha a symbol of time and modernism, slowly eating its way at the lives of the three sisters, pushing them out of the picture? Why does she gain so much power and at the same time the sisters descend into misery?
-What has changed between the first and second acts?
-What is the significance of the silly conversations in act two, such as the argument between Solyony and Chebuytkin on whether a Chehartma is a plant or a meat dish? Repetition figures into these arguments.
-Why hasn't Andrei become a professor yet? Is he burdened by his new wife and growing family?
I was thinking about the school teachers theme with respect to my own job. There is a lot of repetition involved in school - one teachers the same lessons year and after year, and one wonders if it really matters, will anybody actually remember it at all. Will my students remember me? And work in education is very taxing work, physically as well as intellectually, as one is always up and performing in front of a class. One must constantly live and focus all their energy into each moment to keep the class moving, and this can wear you down.
I think about the teachers at my school in Korea and especially the director and his wife. They work such long hours. Every month they attend special conferences in Changwon to discuss improvements to the Jung Chul curriculum and ways to become better teachers. Every Tuesday they have a special adult English class in the early afternoon. In preparation for the big national tests, they all work on Saturdays. And on top of all these long, almost 12 hour work days, they take very few, almost zero days off a year, with the exception of national holidays, of which there are about 10 a year. So ten days off per year.
And this hogwon has been in operation for about eight or ten years?!? How do the director and his wife stand the repetition, thee constant turnover of teachers and students, the mind numbing exercises in the classroom, the daily labors of pushing/fighting with/cajoling/threatening each student to retake a spelling test until he/she passes? How do they get through each day within collapsing under the weight of everyday life?
It's a natural environment to ponder the existential questions frequently asked by the characters in Three Sisters. And plus it was common for single women in 19th century Russia (and in America) to work as schoolteachers. It was one of a few respectable jobs available to them.
3) My students like to eat raw ramen noodles for snacks every day. First they smash the noodles up inside they bag, they shake in the salty seasoning that are so bad for you, then they pop chunks into their mouth like some people eat potato chips.
21.6.11
10.6.11
Observation 6/9/2011
1. Over the past year, I've often been greeted by clumps of feces on my walk to work. It's a fifteen-ish minute walk to work, through a couple alleys, past a big apartment complex, across a few main streets, but I can almost always count on a few clumps of feces. Of course there's bird feces, but sometimes I see unusually large clumps that look altogether too familiar --- maybe a dog, maybe (oh God I hope not)..human? It happens with such regularity, and I can almost always see these steaming piles of dung sitting by a bag of rotten kimchi. Together, it might be the grossest smell I've ever come across. And it might be days (one time almost a week!) before the poop gets cleaned up -- so day after day it's a like an old friend greeting me on my way to work. There are no dumpsters here in Korea -- people leave their garbage in bags on the side of the street for the garbage collectors to take away.
2. Doug Lemov's 49 Technique to become a champion teacher is a great read. He has spent years studying what actually makes great teachers great, and his findings show that teaching is not an innate gift that some people have and other don't, but it's a craft that takes years of practice to learn. I like his approach, one that always asks the simple questions: "What do you do when a student says 'I don't know'? What's the best course of action to take?"
3. It's that time of the year again! Well year no, maybe month. The middle school students are in for yet another months of intense prepping to get ready for yet another epic national test at the end of the month. SO my middle school classes have been transformed into test prep classes. My job? Help students memorize passages out of their textbook, passages that will appear on the big test. The idea? If the students have the passage memorized, they will be able to answer the questions and/or translate whatever is given to them without even thinking.
2. Doug Lemov's 49 Technique to become a champion teacher is a great read. He has spent years studying what actually makes great teachers great, and his findings show that teaching is not an innate gift that some people have and other don't, but it's a craft that takes years of practice to learn. I like his approach, one that always asks the simple questions: "What do you do when a student says 'I don't know'? What's the best course of action to take?"
3. It's that time of the year again! Well year no, maybe month. The middle school students are in for yet another months of intense prepping to get ready for yet another epic national test at the end of the month. SO my middle school classes have been transformed into test prep classes. My job? Help students memorize passages out of their textbook, passages that will appear on the big test. The idea? If the students have the passage memorized, they will be able to answer the questions and/or translate whatever is given to them without even thinking.
8.6.11
Observations 6/15/2011
1. Korean carrots are huge and cucumbers are skinny (and spiky). Shocked me a bit when I first walked into a grocery store here.
2. Saturday I made another trip up Palyoung Mountain. It's only a ten minute walk from my house, followed by a 50 minute trek to the top, so I like to visit every two weeks or so. A random Korean stopped me on my hike down from the top. He knew basic English very well and asked me the normal round of questions (where are you from, where do you work, etc). I think most Koreans are surprised to see a foreigner on the mountain, as it's usually middle aged married couples making the hike to the top. It must also seem strange to see a person hiking the mountain by himself. This is a culture of couples, and you almost always see people walking about in groups of two or more.
I was reminded of how many positive experiences I've had hiking this mountain. In fact, I've only ever had positive experiences -- there's almost always been someone who says hi to me or offers me a relaxing coffee and/or banana.
I go to the mountain to clean out my mind. It's a spiritual journey to the top, often accompanied by symphonies and songs by Mahler, and there's always more released from body than a layer of sweat -- the journey grounds me, makes me feel like I'm in one piece, reaffirms my mission in Korea. It's so easy to get bogged down by stress or monotony that this cleansing ritual becomes important every two weeks or so.
3. Culture of hitting.
Today I had a conversation with one of my middle school students, Kyle, about hitting in Korean culture. When I first arrived in Korea, I was shocked and frightened to see how physical the students are with themselves and with their teachers. At school, it's a common sight to see students smacking each other, rolling around on the ground, jumping into the air, on top of each other, etc...it happens so often most of the time the teachers only shout "Stop it!" from across the room and leave it at that. The truth is, about 90% of the time this 'fighting' is harmless, good-natured, and even cute, like puppy dogs playing in the backyard.
Teachers have a physical relationship with the students as well -- teachers will grab students' backpacks or sweatshirt hoods to keep them from running off without doing homework, raise their fists at sassy students, pull students' hair or cheeks if they don't do their homework. Of course, there is the whipping stick (or 'stick of love'), which usually solemnizes the tone of the class, but generally this is playfully too.
I've heard that Korean friends are very touchy feelly, including groups of guys, and it's not uncommon on the street to see grown men playing slapping each other on the street. We're so much more conscious of personal space in the USA. Also, it's not an uncommon sight to see grown men walking down the street holding hands.
Getting back to the conversation I had today with Kyle, he told me about fights he has with his younger brother (another one of my students)over who should turn the bedroom light off. The their mother gets involved, in it all turns into this great comedic fistfight. That was funny.
This was not. I asked Kyle about hitting in the schools and he told me that students hit the teachers, but not in a playful way, but to humiliate them. Many students are rude to their teachers and take pleasure in making a joke out of them during class (while they're not snoozing). Students ignore attempts by their teacher to wake them up, or will shout out "What are you doing teacher?!? Go back and teach! GO! GO!" They hit the teacher with their fists, chuck erasers at him, ddongshim him (look it up, and their 50-60 year old teacher does nothing.
I know what I would have done--quit. I can handle verbal abuse, but physical attacks do not belong in the classroom. I don't understand this, but this is not the first time I've heard of the recent problems of students behavior in a 21st century Korea.
2. Saturday I made another trip up Palyoung Mountain. It's only a ten minute walk from my house, followed by a 50 minute trek to the top, so I like to visit every two weeks or so. A random Korean stopped me on my hike down from the top. He knew basic English very well and asked me the normal round of questions (where are you from, where do you work, etc). I think most Koreans are surprised to see a foreigner on the mountain, as it's usually middle aged married couples making the hike to the top. It must also seem strange to see a person hiking the mountain by himself. This is a culture of couples, and you almost always see people walking about in groups of two or more.
I was reminded of how many positive experiences I've had hiking this mountain. In fact, I've only ever had positive experiences -- there's almost always been someone who says hi to me or offers me a relaxing coffee and/or banana.
I go to the mountain to clean out my mind. It's a spiritual journey to the top, often accompanied by symphonies and songs by Mahler, and there's always more released from body than a layer of sweat -- the journey grounds me, makes me feel like I'm in one piece, reaffirms my mission in Korea. It's so easy to get bogged down by stress or monotony that this cleansing ritual becomes important every two weeks or so.
3. Culture of hitting.
Today I had a conversation with one of my middle school students, Kyle, about hitting in Korean culture. When I first arrived in Korea, I was shocked and frightened to see how physical the students are with themselves and with their teachers. At school, it's a common sight to see students smacking each other, rolling around on the ground, jumping into the air, on top of each other, etc...it happens so often most of the time the teachers only shout "Stop it!" from across the room and leave it at that. The truth is, about 90% of the time this 'fighting' is harmless, good-natured, and even cute, like puppy dogs playing in the backyard.
Teachers have a physical relationship with the students as well -- teachers will grab students' backpacks or sweatshirt hoods to keep them from running off without doing homework, raise their fists at sassy students, pull students' hair or cheeks if they don't do their homework. Of course, there is the whipping stick (or 'stick of love'), which usually solemnizes the tone of the class, but generally this is playfully too.
I've heard that Korean friends are very touchy feelly, including groups of guys, and it's not uncommon on the street to see grown men playing slapping each other on the street. We're so much more conscious of personal space in the USA. Also, it's not an uncommon sight to see grown men walking down the street holding hands.
Getting back to the conversation I had today with Kyle, he told me about fights he has with his younger brother (another one of my students)over who should turn the bedroom light off. The their mother gets involved, in it all turns into this great comedic fistfight. That was funny.
This was not. I asked Kyle about hitting in the schools and he told me that students hit the teachers, but not in a playful way, but to humiliate them. Many students are rude to their teachers and take pleasure in making a joke out of them during class (while they're not snoozing). Students ignore attempts by their teacher to wake them up, or will shout out "What are you doing teacher?!? Go back and teach! GO! GO!" They hit the teacher with their fists, chuck erasers at him, ddongshim him (look it up, and their 50-60 year old teacher does nothing.
I know what I would have done--quit. I can handle verbal abuse, but physical attacks do not belong in the classroom. I don't understand this, but this is not the first time I've heard of the recent problems of students behavior in a 21st century Korea.
Observations 6/7/2011
1. The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn
These two quotes are from Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I was leafing through bits of Walden today and came across these quotes that had special relevance for me. There is no feeling quite like the one I get from watching a sunrise – I love the morning. I feel cleansed, refreshed– it’s a spiritual moment for me (this is why I go hiking every other weekend and listen to Mahler at the top – it’s a cleansing ritual for me). new beginning for the world, and I’m part of that. The moon does a great job of making me feel tiny and insignificant, but the sun makes me feel large, heroic, and connected to the world around me.
Unfortunately I have very poor sleeping habits and it’s rare that I get to witness perhaps the most important moment of the day.
2. With only little over two months left in Korea, thoughts of home and plans for my next adventure in Georgia have dominated my thoughts. I’m so anxious to revisit my home and friends, and everything familiar. In the long run, time moves quickly, but from moment to moment, it moves so slowly.
3. I gave my younger students (my problem class) a group activity today. The task was to draw a new planet using several of the geographic features we had been discussing in class, then write a small paragraph describing your planet. This class is a rowdy one, mostly 10 year old boys, and they have enormous problems with attention, manners, and respect. But I couldn’t believe my eyes today –they took real interest in the activity, discussing with each other, brainstorming, respecting each others' suggestions, then making an attempt on the paragraph that made me feel proud. All it took was a creative activity, group work, some background vocabulary, and the expectations. Good work today.
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn
These two quotes are from Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I was leafing through bits of Walden today and came across these quotes that had special relevance for me. There is no feeling quite like the one I get from watching a sunrise – I love the morning. I feel cleansed, refreshed– it’s a spiritual moment for me (this is why I go hiking every other weekend and listen to Mahler at the top – it’s a cleansing ritual for me). new beginning for the world, and I’m part of that. The moon does a great job of making me feel tiny and insignificant, but the sun makes me feel large, heroic, and connected to the world around me.
Unfortunately I have very poor sleeping habits and it’s rare that I get to witness perhaps the most important moment of the day.
2. With only little over two months left in Korea, thoughts of home and plans for my next adventure in Georgia have dominated my thoughts. I’m so anxious to revisit my home and friends, and everything familiar. In the long run, time moves quickly, but from moment to moment, it moves so slowly.
3. I gave my younger students (my problem class) a group activity today. The task was to draw a new planet using several of the geographic features we had been discussing in class, then write a small paragraph describing your planet. This class is a rowdy one, mostly 10 year old boys, and they have enormous problems with attention, manners, and respect. But I couldn’t believe my eyes today –they took real interest in the activity, discussing with each other, brainstorming, respecting each others' suggestions, then making an attempt on the paragraph that made me feel proud. All it took was a creative activity, group work, some background vocabulary, and the expectations. Good work today.
7.6.11
3 Observations 6/6/2011
I've been fighting off a cold for most of this three day vacation so I decided to spend a quiet Monday at home. There's nothing worse than trying to teach while sick.
1. I watched several documentaries today on the widening gap between the rich and the poor in America. One critic likened the current class situation in America to that of imperial Britain. We do have a class system in America, but we don't like to talk about it. All my life I have been taught that hard work will guarantee success and it is terrifying to see blue collar workers push themselves to the extreme working several minimum wage jobs, jobs that requires focus, memory power, quick decision making, etc, and at the end of the day, these people have nothing. Why do they put up with it? If you work hard, avoid the short cuts, and keep a positive attitude, you should be successful.
2. I re-read Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" last night for the first time in over a year. I love Chekhov but I have a tough time drawing conclusions from his works. His plays are the most mysterious I have read amongst modern playwrights, and it has taken time to begin to understand his odd, but beautiful plays.
Some questions that popped into my mind during this reading:
-does Varya love Lopakhin? How much free reign do Anya and Varya have in choosing a husband?
--Why is Lopakhin so aware of time? What is the significance of the moment in Act Three where we learn that Lopakin had missed the train after the auction and had to wait several hours for the next?
--The adults behave like children and the younger generation do a poor job of trying to behave as adults.
--the orchard means something different to everyone in the play.
--For much of the play the characters talk about their memories of the past, but this seems absent in the fourth act, where most of the talk is about plans for the immediate future. Then, finally Firs, the embodiment off the past, walks out alone, sealed up inside the house, left to die. What does one do with the past in the face of great change?
3. I watched a Bill Moyers special today featuring the investigative journalist, feminist, and writer Barbara Ehrenreich. She spent several months exploring the world of working class America by taking on several minimum wage jobs, then writing a book about her experiences and findings. I love her work because I'm very interested in how other people live their lives and I'm excited that she actually tried to live their life for several months. In trying to understand a group of people, it's a good technique to try and live life as they do.
1. I watched several documentaries today on the widening gap between the rich and the poor in America. One critic likened the current class situation in America to that of imperial Britain. We do have a class system in America, but we don't like to talk about it. All my life I have been taught that hard work will guarantee success and it is terrifying to see blue collar workers push themselves to the extreme working several minimum wage jobs, jobs that requires focus, memory power, quick decision making, etc, and at the end of the day, these people have nothing. Why do they put up with it? If you work hard, avoid the short cuts, and keep a positive attitude, you should be successful.
2. I re-read Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" last night for the first time in over a year. I love Chekhov but I have a tough time drawing conclusions from his works. His plays are the most mysterious I have read amongst modern playwrights, and it has taken time to begin to understand his odd, but beautiful plays.
Some questions that popped into my mind during this reading:
-does Varya love Lopakhin? How much free reign do Anya and Varya have in choosing a husband?
--Why is Lopakhin so aware of time? What is the significance of the moment in Act Three where we learn that Lopakin had missed the train after the auction and had to wait several hours for the next?
--The adults behave like children and the younger generation do a poor job of trying to behave as adults.
--the orchard means something different to everyone in the play.
--For much of the play the characters talk about their memories of the past, but this seems absent in the fourth act, where most of the talk is about plans for the immediate future. Then, finally Firs, the embodiment off the past, walks out alone, sealed up inside the house, left to die. What does one do with the past in the face of great change?
3. I watched a Bill Moyers special today featuring the investigative journalist, feminist, and writer Barbara Ehrenreich. She spent several months exploring the world of working class America by taking on several minimum wage jobs, then writing a book about her experiences and findings. I love her work because I'm very interested in how other people live their lives and I'm excited that she actually tried to live their life for several months. In trying to understand a group of people, it's a good technique to try and live life as they do.
6.6.11
Observations 6/5/2011
1. An older Korean man came up to me today while waiting for the subway train in Pusan. He gave me a flyer for a Christian radio broadcast later that evening and asked me many questions about where I was from and my family. He seemed like a nice guy and I was thrilled that he tried so hard to communicate with me despite the little English he knew. What makes this strange was the way he first approached me: "OMG! Where are you from? You are very very handsome! Are you an actor? You look like Jim Carry!"
This is not the first time a stranger has stopped me on the street to worship my as-he-sees-it beauty. The first time this happened I was floored and wanted to run away, but I've gotten used to it. The is a tremendous importance on the outer in this culture, and while living in the Korean gaze, I will have to endure the stares, the gapes, and the occasional creepy admirer.
2. Lately I've gotten into the novels and short stories of Tolstoy. I was reading the beginning of "The Kreutzer Sonata" today and was struck by the opening conversation in the train compartment. Strangers gripped in a philosophical discussion on the nature of love. We don't do that anymore, do we? The art of conversing with strangers is gone, and it seems that people are afraid to break the ice these days. We seem even less interested in deep conversations and prefer the typical fluff intro conversations, then leave it at that. I wish people spent more time talking to each other.
3. I watched "Kung Fu Panda 2" with my Korean class today at the Nampodong cinema in Busan. I was entertained, but the film didn't make an impression on me the way "The Lion King" or "Pocahantas" made in my youth. They just don't make children's films like they used to. So much emphasis on plot and 3-D fights, so much moralizing, and so little content and interesting characterization.
This is not the first time a stranger has stopped me on the street to worship my as-he-sees-it beauty. The first time this happened I was floored and wanted to run away, but I've gotten used to it. The is a tremendous importance on the outer in this culture, and while living in the Korean gaze, I will have to endure the stares, the gapes, and the occasional creepy admirer.
2. Lately I've gotten into the novels and short stories of Tolstoy. I was reading the beginning of "The Kreutzer Sonata" today and was struck by the opening conversation in the train compartment. Strangers gripped in a philosophical discussion on the nature of love. We don't do that anymore, do we? The art of conversing with strangers is gone, and it seems that people are afraid to break the ice these days. We seem even less interested in deep conversations and prefer the typical fluff intro conversations, then leave it at that. I wish people spent more time talking to each other.
3. I watched "Kung Fu Panda 2" with my Korean class today at the Nampodong cinema in Busan. I was entertained, but the film didn't make an impression on me the way "The Lion King" or "Pocahantas" made in my youth. They just don't make children's films like they used to. So much emphasis on plot and 3-D fights, so much moralizing, and so little content and interesting characterization.
5.6.11
3 Observations 6/4/2011
1. I spent most of today exploring Louis Theroux's BBC documentaries on weird American subcultures. I love his work - he's able to keep such an open mind and operates on a real humanistic level so the viewer can really get a glimpse into the inside world. His work reminds me a lot of his father, Paul Theroux, the travel writer, famous for exploring off-the beaten trail places like Turkmenistan, Romania, Georgia, etc. I've been leafing through his book "Ghost Train to the Orient Star" and I really appreciate his objectivity -- no talk of "amazing experiences" or "life changing moments". Only the interesting and (quite often) the dull. "Travel only looks exciting in retrospect" says Theroux.
2. I dislike going out on Saturday nights in Korea because I get so many uncomfortable stares. I sometimes feel like it's taboo to walk around in Korea alone - actually, a group of hikers on the mountain once stopped me in surprise, wondering why I was by myself on the mountain. But Saturday night seems to be the prime night for girlfriends/boyfriends/groups of friends to promenade up and down the streets and I feel so uncomfortable walking by them. It's a tough physiological battle one faces --- what are they thinking? Are they wondering why I'm alone? Are they wondering why I don't have a girlfriend? Why are they gaping at me? Why can't they just mind their own business? Although I live in an area where I received more stares than if I lived in a major city like Seoul or Pusan, I think it's mostly a battle in my mind. You have to let go your suspicions of what people think about you. I do think I get stared at a bit too much, and there have been several times where Koreans have froze in mid-action (like picking vegetables out at the grocery store) to gape their mouths at me. I have to let it go and remember this is not always the case. Some people do stare at me and make me feel very uncomfortable,but there are plenty of Koreans who could care less.
3. You can buy peanut butter in Korea but it's a bit expensive (about $6 a jar). I've been told that many Korean don't like peanut butter as they find it "too sweet".
2. I dislike going out on Saturday nights in Korea because I get so many uncomfortable stares. I sometimes feel like it's taboo to walk around in Korea alone - actually, a group of hikers on the mountain once stopped me in surprise, wondering why I was by myself on the mountain. But Saturday night seems to be the prime night for girlfriends/boyfriends/groups of friends to promenade up and down the streets and I feel so uncomfortable walking by them. It's a tough physiological battle one faces --- what are they thinking? Are they wondering why I'm alone? Are they wondering why I don't have a girlfriend? Why are they gaping at me? Why can't they just mind their own business? Although I live in an area where I received more stares than if I lived in a major city like Seoul or Pusan, I think it's mostly a battle in my mind. You have to let go your suspicions of what people think about you. I do think I get stared at a bit too much, and there have been several times where Koreans have froze in mid-action (like picking vegetables out at the grocery store) to gape their mouths at me. I have to let it go and remember this is not always the case. Some people do stare at me and make me feel very uncomfortable,but there are plenty of Koreans who could care less.
3. You can buy peanut butter in Korea but it's a bit expensive (about $6 a jar). I've been told that many Korean don't like peanut butter as they find it "too sweet".
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