Ok...so I have completed my first week at my new job...and I definitely have some thoughts on it. First thing, it is infinitely easier than my previous job. I am teaching elementary school kids who speak almost no english. Mostly you just talk at them and hope the grasp some of the things you are saying. They work mostly out of a book. It's quite easy...but unfortunately that makes it VERY boring. This job sucks. I seem to be the school bitch at this point because I don't really teach classes as much as read the same 3 stories over and over to the kids and have them mimic sentences. I have literally fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence before. It's a living hell.
Also, the teaching day in brutal. To those of you working a 9-5 it may not seem bad, but trust me on this...any teacher will back me up on this, as well as any foreigner teacher in Korea. I work a solid 6 hour block of classes. Most schools have 50 minute classes with a 10 minute break between classes. Not my school. Oooooh no. I teach 7 classes a day with literally NO break between them. They removed the 10 minute breaks from class to squeeze an extra class in the day and get the most out of my time at that school. The bell will ring and the kids literally shuffle out and the new class shuffles in and I keep teaching. It SUCKS and by the end of the day I am EXHAUSTED.
So other than that, the school director is wierd. He is the same guy who made the losing weight and attending church demands. Have you ever heard of the concept of a "hands-on boss"? This guy takes that to the extreme. He will literally pop in and out of the classroom and take over for a few minutes...or he will sit in the back of the class and participate like he is a student. He doesn't just do this to me either, he does it to my Canadian co-worker as well who has been teaching in Korea for 12 years. He hates it more than I do...but there isn't much we can do about it. You just have to kind of pull back, ignore what it going on, and deal with the fact that your boss is literally undermining you in the classroom. Hopefully I can find a way to subtly tell him to GTFO because 8 months of him doing that is going to kill me.
Another thing, today in one of my classes a student didn't do the homework. My boss literally HIT HIM WITH A STICK 3 TIMES. I'm talking like broom handle thickness, and hard enough that the kids cried. I sat there in horror as it happened. The noise was loud enough my co-worker peeked in my window and gave me the "WTF" hand signal we use to communicate when we can't speak.
This is going to be an interesting 8 months....ugh.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A Thought for my Readers
I have said it before, and I will say it again....as much as I love that people read this...I don't write it for you. I write this blog for myself, as a way to remember my year hear in the past, and a way to let out some of the daily stresses we deal with.
That being said, I would like to remind everyone that you are not in Korea. Pretty obvious, I know. I have been getting word from different sources that people think I talk to much trash about Korea or that I should be doing things differently, or not writing some of the things I write in my blog. My situation is not unique. For every person who has a perfectly wonderful experience in Korea, there is another who has an absolutely horrid time. I fall somewhere in the middle. My time has been both horrid and wonderful. The biggest comment I get from people is that I sound so negative, that I am miserable all the time and should be enjoying it. Personally, I don't see where you can get that idea when I write about the crazy fun nights I have. I just also write about the stuff that annoys and frustrates me, or the stuff that I find odd.
I am not unique in the things I say about Korea. I know several people who are having a wonderful time here, and even when I am around them...the number 1 past time of foreigners living in Korea seems to be talking trash about Korea.
Anyone who has lived abroad will tell you that you cannot describe how it is. None of you are reading this who have never lived abroad cannot comprehend what it is like. Sure...you can visit a country, but in such a short time you are likely to find the quirks amusing at best. You are only there for a short time and soon enough you will be back home amongst family and friends doing what is normal for you.
When you live abroad, things get more extreme. Something you found odd or funny when you first got there suddenly becomes one of the most annoying things ever. That interesting food you ate that you really loved....now makes me you want to vomit when you think about it. Each person experiences it differently, but things are just more extreme when you are there for a long period of time.
Just because things bother me does not mean I am not enjoying my experience or at least taking something away from this. I am doing everything I can to get the most out of it. Every aspect of my life here cannot be shared in the blog...there isn't enough time in the day or it just really isn't that interesting.
So to those of you who are out there, if you take anything away from this post...please understand I am doing what I can here and am having fun when I can. However, just like back home not everything is going to be perfect, something are going to annoy you...and since I am so far away from home, those things are a bit more extreme. I understand things and my own situation over here far more than you do....so please stop judging, please stop telling people behind my back that I should be doing something another way, and please stop telling others that I am too negative on my blog.
You don't understand...and unless you pack your bags and join me...you never will.
As an aside, I recieved an email from a girl I graduated with who is currently living in Italy who deals with the same crap I get...and here is the email she sent me.
"Hey there,
I'm a bit behind in reading your blogs but just skimmed through the blog about people's perspective on your life abroad.
smile, it has been one of the HARDEST things to ignore or to not get pissed off at - having people treat your life abroad like it's just vacation. I loathe this...and HATE when people are like, "Why aren't you traveling more?" "Oh you are so lucky." "Oh what are you upset at that?" "It's not a big deal - it's ITALY!" They don't, and never will, understand the culture shock and all the emotions that happen for people living abroad.
People don't realize that I still have to wake up, go to work, put up with work bs, pay my bills etc...most people will never get it. They don't realize the cultural and linguistic difference because they have never experienced it!!
Ignore there comments or tell them that you still have to live your life...it just happens to be in another country and it's not vacation for you.
You and I don't seem like the kind of people who are ALWAYS going to find the BEST thing about a situation or are ALWAYS going to smile about EVERYTHING - that's bs - that's not life. I know people who are always smiles about everything and it really gives a wrong impression to others who have never experienced being abroad...
Just wanted you to know - you aren't alone. It's a pain in the ass to get people to understand your perspective and that you appreciate the opportunity (good and bad) but it's the CULTURE SHOCK experience that they will never understand. And some of the coping with that is just being upset or angry with things...smile, we bash Italy too - more like WTF's!
Good to know that someone else feels it :-)
Take care Josh."
That being said, I would like to remind everyone that you are not in Korea. Pretty obvious, I know. I have been getting word from different sources that people think I talk to much trash about Korea or that I should be doing things differently, or not writing some of the things I write in my blog. My situation is not unique. For every person who has a perfectly wonderful experience in Korea, there is another who has an absolutely horrid time. I fall somewhere in the middle. My time has been both horrid and wonderful. The biggest comment I get from people is that I sound so negative, that I am miserable all the time and should be enjoying it. Personally, I don't see where you can get that idea when I write about the crazy fun nights I have. I just also write about the stuff that annoys and frustrates me, or the stuff that I find odd.
I am not unique in the things I say about Korea. I know several people who are having a wonderful time here, and even when I am around them...the number 1 past time of foreigners living in Korea seems to be talking trash about Korea.
Anyone who has lived abroad will tell you that you cannot describe how it is. None of you are reading this who have never lived abroad cannot comprehend what it is like. Sure...you can visit a country, but in such a short time you are likely to find the quirks amusing at best. You are only there for a short time and soon enough you will be back home amongst family and friends doing what is normal for you.
When you live abroad, things get more extreme. Something you found odd or funny when you first got there suddenly becomes one of the most annoying things ever. That interesting food you ate that you really loved....now makes me you want to vomit when you think about it. Each person experiences it differently, but things are just more extreme when you are there for a long period of time.
Just because things bother me does not mean I am not enjoying my experience or at least taking something away from this. I am doing everything I can to get the most out of it. Every aspect of my life here cannot be shared in the blog...there isn't enough time in the day or it just really isn't that interesting.
So to those of you who are out there, if you take anything away from this post...please understand I am doing what I can here and am having fun when I can. However, just like back home not everything is going to be perfect, something are going to annoy you...and since I am so far away from home, those things are a bit more extreme. I understand things and my own situation over here far more than you do....so please stop judging, please stop telling people behind my back that I should be doing something another way, and please stop telling others that I am too negative on my blog.
You don't understand...and unless you pack your bags and join me...you never will.
As an aside, I recieved an email from a girl I graduated with who is currently living in Italy who deals with the same crap I get...and here is the email she sent me.
"Hey there,
I'm a bit behind in reading your blogs but just skimmed through the blog about people's perspective on your life abroad.
smile, it has been one of the HARDEST things to ignore or to not get pissed off at - having people treat your life abroad like it's just vacation. I loathe this...and HATE when people are like, "Why aren't you traveling more?" "Oh you are so lucky." "Oh what are you upset at that?" "It's not a big deal - it's ITALY!" They don't, and never will, understand the culture shock and all the emotions that happen for people living abroad.
People don't realize that I still have to wake up, go to work, put up with work bs, pay my bills etc...most people will never get it. They don't realize the cultural and linguistic difference because they have never experienced it!!
Ignore there comments or tell them that you still have to live your life...it just happens to be in another country and it's not vacation for you.
You and I don't seem like the kind of people who are ALWAYS going to find the BEST thing about a situation or are ALWAYS going to smile about EVERYTHING - that's bs - that's not life. I know people who are always smiles about everything and it really gives a wrong impression to others who have never experienced being abroad...
Just wanted you to know - you aren't alone. It's a pain in the ass to get people to understand your perspective and that you appreciate the opportunity (good and bad) but it's the CULTURE SHOCK experience that they will never understand. And some of the coping with that is just being upset or angry with things...smile, we bash Italy too - more like WTF's!
Good to know that someone else feels it :-)
Take care Josh."
Saturday, May 15, 2010
New Apartment, New Job
So last Wednesday I received a phone call from my new boss who simply asked me “are you ready?”. I’m like “Ready for what?”. “Ready to move.” As it turned out he wanted me to move to a new apartment that day, but wasn’t going to give me any notice. So I literally spent the whole day packing up my apartment to move about 10 minutes away to a new location. I wasn’t sure what furnishings I was supposed to leave in the old apartment, so I took the things I wanted and left the place a little trashed when I moved out. I figured this was my payback for the countless times he knocked on my door to tell me to lose weight. My new apartment is bigger, which is nice. I do like it, but unfortunately it is not in Bukde anymore…and that is where all the fun is! Ah well. The apartment didn’t have a bed when I moved in and the manager asked me to sleep on the floor for a few days, which I refused to do. Luckily I was able to get a truck so I could go back and steal my bed from the old apartment to sleep on. It’s a terrible bed, but a lot better than the floor. The manager also didn’t have internet set up yet, so I was stuck going without internet for a few days, which was agony.
I started the new job the following day, and the manager obviously had no idea what to do with me. There were no classes for me to teach, so he sat me in a room and wanted me to read student books. I asked him if I could go watch the other teacher, which I did for the whole day. It’s was kind of boring, but the teacher, Joseph is really cool, so that made it a lot easier. After work, the boss sat me down and tried to get me to agree to go with him to the gym every morning at 6am. I told him it wasn’t going to happen. He said he was disappointed because I promised I would lose weight. On Friday he pulled the same crap with wanting me to go to Church on Sunday with him…but I also refused. He just signed a contract with the building for apartment and he paid to have my visa transferred over…so I guess it is his move now.
I started the new job the following day, and the manager obviously had no idea what to do with me. There were no classes for me to teach, so he sat me in a room and wanted me to read student books. I asked him if I could go watch the other teacher, which I did for the whole day. It’s was kind of boring, but the teacher, Joseph is really cool, so that made it a lot easier. After work, the boss sat me down and tried to get me to agree to go with him to the gym every morning at 6am. I told him it wasn’t going to happen. He said he was disappointed because I promised I would lose weight. On Friday he pulled the same crap with wanting me to go to Church on Sunday with him…but I also refused. He just signed a contract with the building for apartment and he paid to have my visa transferred over…so I guess it is his move now.
Jeonju Archive
This is a blog I should have wrote about 2 months ago when it actually happened…but due to school and just forgetting about it, I had to wait until May to write it…so here we go.
So a few months ago I went out drinking with a large group of Americans to our favorite little haunt, Red Puncha. We all just refer to it as “Whiskey Bar”. The owner, Ke Baum is awesome and I suspect he cuts us a deal every time we go because we always bring about 9-10 people with us, and all get drunk and fed for about 10,000won each. So here we are sitting at this bar, drinking fruit soju and beer when I notice the table next to us keeps looking over at us. They are a decent size table of Koreans. Finally one of them looks at me and says “Where you from?”. “Mi gook!” I reply, and the Koreans all went “OOOhhh!”. One of them pours a beer and hands it my way, and which I take and say “One shot? Race?" (“One shot” is a borrowed phrase the Koreans adopted to mean “chug it”). The table cheered and the guy who handed me the beer’s face dropped. I think he knew what he was in for, but after much goading from his friends, he accepted. I promptly trounced him and immediately broke in to a USA! USA! Chant. The rest of my table joined in and it was all smiles. The guy wanted a rematch, of which I dominated him again….so again I busted out the USA! USA! Chant. So, at this point Molly wanted in on the fun so she challenged one of the guys to an arm wrestling match. It was a hell of a battle and she always won, but ultimately lost to the Korean MAN. They decided to do a Korea! Korea! Chant, so I started singing the Star Spangled Banner. Everyone joined in and this opened everyone up to start singing any patriotic song we could think of. We sang “This Land is Your Land”, “God Bless America”, “God Bless the USA”, “50 Nifty United States”, and a few others I am forgetting. When we ran out of patriotic songs, we switched to TV Theme songs like “The Brady Bunch” and “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. All in all it was a damn good night, and I think we represented America well…at least in the drinking department.
And now a few random observances:
A few months ago one of my students was talking about putting animals down at the animal shelter by referring to it as “Killing them with kindness”. Sinwoo then began talking about killing arts with a magnifying glass saying he caused a “holocaust for ants”.
I get followed by Korean schoolchildren sometimes who literally point and laugh. It’s really annoying, and I swear one of these days I light throw one in to a busy street.
There is a guy who rolls around Jeonbukde on his hands and knees begging for money. It’s both sad and scary at the same time.
Before Top closed there was a school wide dinner that all the teachers were invited to except for me and Spencer. This is not the first time it has happened so I asked why we were being excluded I was told "because we thought you would be uncomfortable being in a place surrounded by people who don't speak English". I was like "What...like Korea?"
So a few months ago I went out drinking with a large group of Americans to our favorite little haunt, Red Puncha. We all just refer to it as “Whiskey Bar”. The owner, Ke Baum is awesome and I suspect he cuts us a deal every time we go because we always bring about 9-10 people with us, and all get drunk and fed for about 10,000won each. So here we are sitting at this bar, drinking fruit soju and beer when I notice the table next to us keeps looking over at us. They are a decent size table of Koreans. Finally one of them looks at me and says “Where you from?”. “Mi gook!” I reply, and the Koreans all went “OOOhhh!”. One of them pours a beer and hands it my way, and which I take and say “One shot? Race?" (“One shot” is a borrowed phrase the Koreans adopted to mean “chug it”). The table cheered and the guy who handed me the beer’s face dropped. I think he knew what he was in for, but after much goading from his friends, he accepted. I promptly trounced him and immediately broke in to a USA! USA! Chant. The rest of my table joined in and it was all smiles. The guy wanted a rematch, of which I dominated him again….so again I busted out the USA! USA! Chant. So, at this point Molly wanted in on the fun so she challenged one of the guys to an arm wrestling match. It was a hell of a battle and she always won, but ultimately lost to the Korean MAN. They decided to do a Korea! Korea! Chant, so I started singing the Star Spangled Banner. Everyone joined in and this opened everyone up to start singing any patriotic song we could think of. We sang “This Land is Your Land”, “God Bless America”, “God Bless the USA”, “50 Nifty United States”, and a few others I am forgetting. When we ran out of patriotic songs, we switched to TV Theme songs like “The Brady Bunch” and “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. All in all it was a damn good night, and I think we represented America well…at least in the drinking department.
And now a few random observances:
A few months ago one of my students was talking about putting animals down at the animal shelter by referring to it as “Killing them with kindness”. Sinwoo then began talking about killing arts with a magnifying glass saying he caused a “holocaust for ants”.
I get followed by Korean schoolchildren sometimes who literally point and laugh. It’s really annoying, and I swear one of these days I light throw one in to a busy street.
There is a guy who rolls around Jeonbukde on his hands and knees begging for money. It’s both sad and scary at the same time.
Before Top closed there was a school wide dinner that all the teachers were invited to except for me and Spencer. This is not the first time it has happened so I asked why we were being excluded I was told "because we thought you would be uncomfortable being in a place surrounded by people who don't speak English". I was like "What...like Korea?"
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
New Job....sorta
So I found a new job in the city I am living in...so luckily I don't have to move across the country like I was going to have to before. I had an 11th hour interview Saturday morning and the guy offered me the job, and then we confirmed it today...however I am going on a 3 month probation first, based on 2 conditions.
1. I have to lose weight.
2. I have to go to church
Basically the guy said that God loves me and that is why he was hiring me. I basically lied my ass off to get this job. I told him I was a christian, who exercises a lot now, and that I rarely drink.
This should be interesting....
1. I have to lose weight.
2. I have to go to church
Basically the guy said that God loves me and that is why he was hiring me. I basically lied my ass off to get this job. I told him I was a christian, who exercises a lot now, and that I rarely drink.
This should be interesting....
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