Today the computer technician in our school came and asked me to come to her office to help her with something. I had no idea what to expect, but I decided to see if I could help her out.
I arrived at her office and she sat me down at her desk. She then presented me with a single spaced, one page English essay that she had written. She is applying for a working holiday in Canada. I pulled up the paper and began the task of gently correcting poor English. It's not that this woman has bad English, she has very good English, but it's hard to write in a language that is not your own. She usually had the gist of what she wanted to say but just needed me to help clean it up.
What I found most interesting was the fact that she spent four weeks in January taking a TESOL course when she was visiting Canada. I knew that she had been in Vancouver but I didn't realise that she had spent that time studying English. I did notice that her English was better, but had just attributed that to her having spent four weeks in an English speaking country.
At one point in her essay she talks about her experience in the Canadian school system (she spent one week doing a practicum). She was amazed that the other teachers spoke to her and didn't make her feel like an outsider just because she was Korean. She spoke about how great it was that Canada was a multi-racial society. The other point that she made was how different the school systems in Korea and Canada are. She said that Canadians focus on process, whilst Koreans focus on the product. She loved the Canadian system because it doesn't focus as much on tests... it focuses on students learning at their own pace. Although this may not be entirely the case, it is a pretty fair assessment of the two education systems, at least from my limited exposure to both.
My current situation gives me 40 minutes twice a week with each of my ten classes. My classes have at least 32 students, sometimes 35. All of my students are at different levels. Some of them can speak amazing English, others struggle to answer the question "How are you?" I find this to be a challenging job. I long to spend more time with my students, whatever level they're at, to help them along the process of learning English. For now, I will have to work with what I've got, to try my best to help my students become excited about learning English. I am excited to hear a Korean teacher talk about how much she enjoys the process education system. It gives me hope that one day Koreans will put less stress on getting good grades, and more stress on the process of learning.
So last weekend we hit up one of the local aquariums. And by local, I mean an hour subway ride away. But hey, it's still in Seoul. Anyway, this place was truly unique. I'll start off by saying that this aquarium also had an artistic side to it and not only was it showcasing the sea life itself, but also some of the, well, containers of that sea life.
Exhibit A. Ok, it's a little hard to see the actual fish in this photo, but trust me, they are there, swimming right next to Ariel and Sebastian (the characters from The Little Mermaid). So the aquarium had a little section that wanted to challenge the notion that fish should be kept in conventional fish bowls. Certainly not all of the aquarium's wildlife were kept in such unique structures (most, in fact were in the usual mundane aquariums that we expect to see). But there were some who had different homes. In the end, I don't think that the inhabitants really would know the difference, so... why not? At times it seemed a little off-kilter and bizarre, but since then I've come to appreciate this section of the aquarium more and it is quickly becoming one of my favourite parts of the visit. It's something distinct that really sets it apart from the rest of the aquariums that I've seen. Oh, I should also point out, if it wasn't enough that these fish are housed in a vending machine "fish bowl," that this vending machine is, indeed, a functioning vending machine that guests can use to purchase beverages. Yes... yes, we're in Korea, folks.
Is that shortbread?
Can someone tell me why there are fake cookies glued to the wall of an aquarium?
Thanks for posing, Vanessa!!
So unlike the vending machine, you can actually see the inhabitant of this display (well, sort of). I hope, also unlike the vending machine, that this is not a functioning house for this little crab!!
See the little ducky. That's where the water is.
Here is Jen being a tour guide again. I think she's got a new career ahead of her - well, unless her customers start catching on that she's just making everything up!! Notice the expression on Sue's face. She has that are-you-crazy-what-are-you-talking-about kinda look. Jen, it doesn't look good. Remember, she was a tour guide herself in the past. She knows when you're making things up! Alison is busy taking pictures of Jen's so-called evolution fish!
Not sure if bats are typical at an aquarium... but I wasn't complaining. They were cool.
And of course, what outing isn't complete without the random crazy photo of Jen and myself. "The shark's eating us!!!!"
There you have it. Hope you enjoyed it.
The Coex Aquarium.
I just spent the past 45 minutes writing about our adventures with our landlords (complete with Korean characters and everything!), and for some reason it has disappeared! Oh the joys of technology!!!
I'll make this one short... Last night our landlords showed up to fix our dripping pipe under the kitchen sink. This is just one of the numerous times that we have had our landlords in our apartment, helping us with something... usually it's the hot water. They arrived, he with a paper bag of tools to fix the leak, and she with her usual enthusiasm. He got right down to work, she came and joined us on the floor. We were watching a movie (Beowulf) and had set ourselves upon the floor (sadly it's more comfortable than our couch!) in front of my computer. I had my knitting out and she was so intrigued. I brought out my socks, mittens, scarves, and hats that I have finished since arriving here... she was amazed. It's funny, I get so much attention from the ajumas (grandmothers) of Korea when I bring out my knitting. If I'm on the subway, the ajumas will invite me to sit in the seats designated for the elderly, disabled or pregnant. They watch, enthralled, as I knit socks, mittens, or hats, it's pretty cool! Well, our landlady LOVED my knitted items.
After the drip was fixed our landlords told us how old they were (I think they were really just fishing to find out how old we are!) He is "seven zero" (minus a year because he's Korean - you are a year old when you are born here) and she is "six two". Both of them work out - he can do 70 push ups and 50 sit ups. She works out at the gym... at the end of the conversation we even got to feel our landlord's arm muscles... madness I tell you!! All of this conversation happened in broken English and Korean, but we were able to understand the gist of it.
I must say that living here certainly doesn't leave us bored... it's not very often you get to check out your landlord's pipes!
I will leave you with a bit more Korean culture.... this gem was introduced to me by some grade 5 students. I kind of like it, but I have no idea what it's about! Enjoy....
~Jen
Only in Korea can you go to a cafe to pay money to have little fish nibble at your toes. Last weekend we decided to take the proverbial plunge and try out this Korean phenomenon. For about eight dollars you get a snack (nachos, a muffin, dried squid or some oranges), a drink (beer, wine, juice, or a smoothie), and unlimited access to the fish pond. It's a great deal!
Sara was a little aprehensive. The look on her face embodies my sentiments when we first sat down at the pool preparing to put our feet in the water. We started by putting just our heels in the water, and then gently (for me it took about 10 minutes, Kelly was in within 2 minutes) lowered our feet (one at a time) into the water.
When Jeff arrived he dove in with both feet immediately. He also monopolized the fish that were in the pool. They seemed to like him much better than the rest of us. It was only when he finally took his feet out that the fish looked to us for some more food. When we were finished with the fish, we had an aromatherapy foot bath - hot water and lavender - followed by a nice lathering of cream for our now uber soft feet!
We thought that a video would best embody the phenomenon that is Doctor Fish.
So Jen and I just picked up our passports. We had to submit them so that we could get our visas to enter China. It's only a week away and now we're really starting to feel the excitement. Can't wait! Everything's booked - hotels, tours, flights. And now that we've got our visas, all we have left to do is change some money and then we're on our way!
Check it out. Look how awesome the visa looks. Full page and a snazzy picture of the Great Wall on it. Even more exciting is the fact that we are soon going to be on the real thing soon! I never thought that I'd actually be able to see the day where I not only would get to visit the country where my parents were born, but where I also get to walk along the Great Wall! Add into that the Terracotta Warriors, Tianamen Square, and the Forbidden City, and BAM!! it's one amazing vacation. Now, I've always preferred to take my time when I see things and to explore at my own pace, but given the amount of things we're going to see, I'll admit it and say that I'm glad we're going on this tour. K, we'll save the real rambling for when we actually go and we have stories and photos to share. Can't wait!!
-jeff
We got "shh"ed in the bookstore today. Well, I guess not "shhh"ed, but told that we were being too loud, and could we please keep it down. We weren't that loud, but I guess by Korean standards we were a little above the normal noise level.
We were laughing with Sue (one of our Korean friends, my ex-coteacher) and Vanessa over this book.
The book was apparently very controversial when it first came out in Korea. It has many "inappropriate" words, and helps foreigners learn how to speak Korean for important situations such as when to tell some one off, or how to pick up and take someone home from the bar. Let me just say that it was hilarious and quite entertaining. They also have the book available for Japanese and Chinese if you are learning those languages.
I can't believe they told us to be quiet!!!
~Jen
I found this on Miss Koco Does Korea and thought it would be fun. Unfortunately she is no longer writing her blog, so I was not sure if I could ask her to interview me. So, I'll just interview you!
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your or blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions
If any of you are interviewed by me, then I will get you to interview me next. I suppose, that you could leave 5 questions in the comments for me (us) if you have no blog....
~Jen
No, there is no earthquake, do not worry! It is just the title of the Carol King song that I am currently listening to - I felt it was somewhat appropriate for some reason....
As I sit here in my office thinking about what I am going to post about this time I cannot help but think about the fact that our time in Korea has almost hit the six month point. We have almost spent six months living here, working here, and exploring here. We have spent six months as a married couple. During this time I have had the opportunity to learn more about myself (I always find that this happens when I travel because I become so much more aware of my own culture when I am faced with things that do not always mesh with my own culture). Jeff and I have discussed our future (and by future I mean what we will be doing in September) and we have talked about where we will end up (when we finish traveling).
Our next adventure will take place during the week of the Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year or Tet if you are Vietnamese! - February 2nd - 9th) We are heading off to China - Beijing. A three day tour begins our adventure followed by 3 days of us staying in a hostel (very close to Tiennamen Square) and exploring the city on our own. I am very exited.
A week after we return from China we are heading home to Canada. As the 16th approaches I am getting more and more excited about going home for a short visit. I am looking forward to eating some foods that I miss and seeing friends and family. It will be an EXTREMELY busy and hectic trip, but I am excited. I am also quite excited that we get to fly into the Waterloo airport!
February is a travel month for us, it is also the month that marks our halfway point in Korea. I cannot believe that the time has passed by so quickly!!
~Jen
P.S. For some reason whenever I try to put an apostrophe in this post the website directs me to a find box. You will notice that there are no apostrophes in this blog - it was quite a feat!
Okay, I'll be the first to admit that we have been TOTALLY SLACKING on this website since the new year began. We have good excuses though... but they're still just excuses....
Since the new year began:
*We have been without internet for a week
*We have been without hot water for more than 3 days (December 31st - January 4th)
*Jeff has gotten sick and thus his normal food consumption has been drastically reduced... he is eating so little now, our food bill has been cut by at least 3/4!
*We have no hot water again - it just started this morning and we can't seem to get it back
*We have been working SUPER hard at camps and have been trying to figure out what the heck we are going to do with ourselves come September, which is quickly approaching!
My newly acquired knowledge is as follows:
*When it gets cold in Korea you are supposed to turn on your hot water and let it run all night so that the pipes don't freeze. We've been letting ours drip (it's so painful to let this happen... so bad for the environment!), but last night we were so tired that we forgot to turn on our tap, hence the frozen pipes today. We've been hoping that the heat fan that we've been blasting towards the pipes (which are hidden in our walls) is going to help, we feel really bad about telling our landlords that we have no hot water again!)
We have been busy, and the busyness is not slowing down. For the next week I have "camp", then I have classes for a week - Jeff has two more weeks of "camp". Our current camp is really just extra classes that we are teaching. I have 2 classes of kids and one class with moms - bonus - we get our afternoons off!
After camp/classes comes Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year or Tet if you're Vietnamese!) We are heading on our week long "honeymoon" to China (I'm hoping we can get another honeymoon to a warmer place booked for our next trip...). It will be cold - I don't know what the heck we were thinking!!! Our other friends are taking their holidays in Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, Hawaii... us, we're going to Beijing - it's freaking freezing there! When we get back from China we spend a week teaching and then have 2 more weeks off. We are heading to Canada for my sister's wedding! Ye Haw! (Yet another cold destination.... again, what were we thinking!!! I'm freezing in Korea, why would we choose to go somewhere cold during the Lunar New Year!!!
So we will be busy.
But, we will try to check in with you every so often. If you don't hear from us for awhile it's not because we don't like you or we're trying to avoid you (at least that's the case for most of you!!!), it's because life has suddenly made us busy.
Okay, I'm off! We'll be sure to keep you informed of our trips (I'm super excited about both of them.... looking forward to seeing the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiennamen Square, and the Terracotta Warriors in China, as well as our friends and family in Canada when we fly in for our brief and crazy visit!
~Jen
Jumping on the Wonder Girls posting bandwagon, I thought that I would share with you this Korean music video.
The Wonder Girls are the latest rage in Korea. Quoting Sara "Spend 10 minutes in any type of clothing store and you will hear it. All of my students have it programmed on their cell phones."
So, without further ado, I present to you a Korean phenomenon - The Wonder Girls!
On another note, please read Kelly's most recent post about "the hearts". She has some great pictures of us and an explanation of where "the heart" came from. And to think, I was always under the impression that it was a Chinese thing!
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