My second day of teaching was MUCH better than the first because it was friday, and we only teach the hogwan classes for half of the alloted time and then we go let the play on the computer or run around at the playground. I went down with one of the classes and became a grunt for the children, being forced to pull them up fireman poles, or playing hide and seek. The kids didn't really understand that running around in a 4 level playground having to duck and roll through tight spots is hard work for a guy my age/ size.

We went out last night to eat, had some chicken, talked, got a buzz...went home, nothing major. I did sleep well last night for once. I might be getting over my jetlag. Sweating my butt off as I write this because I just got back from a long walk around the city. Last night they pointed out the nearest Pc gaming room to me, so I went to check it out. I played Diablo 2 for a little bit, and I can see why for such a stupid game it is so addictiing. I am currently a Level four Necromancer known as 'Torgodevil' on some random Asian realm server...the chances being one in a million you will catch me online because I don't know if I will get into that game. I also did some scouting around and found a much nicer PC room across the street, I might visit that with someone to see what games they have, I just peeked in to see what it was like, and it was 100% nicer than the one I played in today.

I don't have plans this weekend. I heard someone say something about seeing AI tonight. Let me say I wasn't a fan of the fact that Speilburg CRAPPED on that movie. Updates will occur sometime today if the plan changes.

I haven't heard any feedback on my pictures. what else do you want to see?
posted by torgodevil at8/18/2001 01:17:04 PM

This will be my second day of teaching. I was going to tell you that I had a lot of respect for all the teachers I had in elementary school, but hell with that, they taught kids that could speak English natively. This is a heck of a lot tougher, let me tell you.

I bombed my first kindergarden class because I didn't have enough materials and didn't know enough songs. I need to learn time management better so I can milk what I have.I had the kids entertained, I think, because they knew I didn't really know what to do.

The older boys were trying to get the best of me at the hogwon. I didn't have many problems, just one kid or so a class...punks. I'll have to lay the smack down sooner or later, because I don't know what the kids are saying about me behind my back in Korean when they give me lip. But once I learn a word or two (shakes fist) it's going down!

That's not to say I had any major problems. They know I can walk out and get someone if I wanted to really get them in trouble, and I haven't made them do any work ( I let two of the classes play alphabet go fish, I'm a push over as it stands.) It's Friday, it's the last I have to deal with it for a little bit. Hopefully I will be able to get up to speed over the next few days.

After class I went out to eat with Kurt and Iris, and came home to find out that the TV I had was skipping past a lot of channels that I had for cable. Unfortunately, the cable channel with the most American Programming has dissappeared from the cable according to Kurt. Maybe they just were always at commercial/showing sports when I flipped by. Who knows?

I've asked around to see where the nearest PC-Bon not requiring a scooter to get to is, no one has given me exact directions, but they have said there was one in the general area near place we walked to eat.They said normally there is one "just around the corner" but they said this one was a farther walk than what you should be used to. I used to walk EVERYWHERE in Oxford, I think I'll be able to handle it.
posted by torgodevil at8/17/2001 09:05:13 AM

For not accomplishing anything yesterday, I had a very full day.

I was watching a movie called Loaded Weapon 1 and sitting around when Marc decided to come over to see if I was up for something to do for the rest of the day. We rode on his motorscooter (I was holding on for dear life on the back) over to Aaron's place before heading to my new favorite place in Korea, the PC-bon. If/When I find one within walking distance worth going to, or if I get a scooter, I know what I will be doing if ever decide not to just hang around Rawoori. What the hell is so cool about the PC-Bon? Basically, it's a room full of Korea guys, caffiene, 30+ computers, and computer games. When you walk into the door you tell them that you want to play X game, they say they have it, so you take a card. You go over to the computer, start playing, or grab a coke and get your buzz going. You can play against other people there too. Basically, it's a 24-7 LAN party where you can play Counterstrike, Age of Empires, Diablo 2, Fortress 2, Lineage, whatever. >=0)... After playing for about, say 4 hours with Aaron and Marc at Age, we paid less than 4 bucks. Cheap computer games? Thank god we didn't have these in college.

After that we went to eat, then I went to a movie with Carey and Marc. Much to my surprise, the theater will be getting my current favorite movie, Memento!! It should be here in a week or so, and I can't wait. We went to see a movie called "Pact of the Loups" or "Brotherhood of the Wolf". Marc told me to remember my first movie here, and I certainly will, but not for the reasons you might thing. We bought tickets for the 10 o'clock show and had about 40 minutes to kill in the Arcade. I watched these kids play an music dance game and was completely floored. They were playing a game where you step on a floor pad as a direction goes by on the screen. Not only do you have to dance around, you have to do it to a beat too. I tried it, and my feet were too big and I just completely sucked at it. Still, it was amazing to watch, and the really good people had crowds of 20+ people watching.

In Korea, you buy an assigned seat to a movie, and you sit in the front rows first, and fill all the rows up. Not only that, if you wanted to sit away, and someone came with their ticket, you'd have to get up and move. The audience was very quiet, so you don't notice you are surrounded in the stadium seating. As the film started, instead of trailers, we watched about 10 or so commercials completely in Korean. As the title screen shows up, Marc and I knew I was in trouble....the film was in French with Korean subtitles! Shit!

Instead of ducking out, I made a game for myself. Marc had Carey translate the Korean to him, so I decided to do something different. I wanted to see how much of the movie I could pick up completely visually. So, I told him after the movie I would tell him what it was about even though I didn't understand a word. To tell you the plot details will be tough since I had nicknames for the characters like "Annoying French guy", "Annoying frech guy with mullet" "French speaking Native American kung fu guy" and "French Matthew Lillard, but more annoying"...But basically, after the movie was over, I had picked up about 90% of the film, and most of the time I was already bored because I knew what was going to happen. Girl tries to rescue lamb, girl falls in water, girl hears noise, girl gets eaten by a giant Computer Generated wolf, ho-hum. It was extremely graphic, and at one point I even considered walking out but thankfully I think the Korean censors edited a dog fight.

After that I went to sleep only to be awakend by the sound of jackhammers. Worse than that Rooster. Crap!

Today is my first day of Solo teaching. Wish me luck.
posted by torgodevil at8/16/2001 09:12:18 AM

Me talking about the weird stuff on television via email:

Bizzare things on television are the most common things I would say happen to me. I've seen a Japanese Farting Monster named Domo-kun that is a hero on Fark.com on a cartoon, and it dropped my mouth the the floor. I saw a korean hip-hop breakdancing competition that prolly one of the coolest things on television, EVER. I also saw a line dancing set of singing Japanese Elvis-es which is unwholesome on a fundamental level.
posted by torgodevil at8/15/2001 11:50:39 AM

WinZip Home Page
For anyone that doesn't have Winzip to open up the pictures. Whoops.

Enjoy!
posted by torgodevil at8/15/2001 11:31:54 AM

Sucess!
Here is the zip file of the images (4.5 megs)

In an effort of ridiculous proportions, I now have the first set of images from my stay here in South Korea. I should bask in the moment, because I have been slacking in the updates, so let me fill you in on what has been happening.

The two schools are broken up like this. In the morning, we go downstairs and visit the kindergarden, phonetically spelled "eech-e-won", and do a song and dance number to keep the kids learning and give the poor Korean teachers a break. Classes of about 20 Korean kids of ages 4-5 up to 6-7, singing, oops I mean, screaming at the top of their lungs "Old Mcdonald" is a unique way of waking up and getting your day started. This goes on from about 9:30 till 12:30.

The Hogwon, or what could be described as a supplimentary school, is a little different. There are hogwons for all sorts of things, like music, art, math, science, we just happen to be a English hogwon after the kindergardeners go home. These kids are learning Phonics, or grammar, or vocabulary. They range in ages from 5-6 all the way to junior high ages. Most of the hogwon kids do not go to Rawoori during the day because they are older, obviously. They come here and pay for the english classes to help them with other studies. We teach these kids in shifts, testing them on reading, teaching vocab, doing conversations ( If I get asked my favorite Digimon again and can't come up with one other than 'Augumon', I think the kids are going to see right through me.) and asking basic questions. The experiences range from 'I can't believe these kids are so good and I get paid to do this,' to somewhere in the '3rd hour of a root canal' range. Classes average about 50 minutes.

I haven't had many problems with most of the kids because none of the kids are mean to me. Some are kind of overactive, but, hey, they are kids.The junior high kids are tough, because you can't make them laugh by making an ass out of yourself. They are like kids in Junior High in America, no one wants to volunteer, and they give just enough of an answer to do what you asked. Those are the only kids I am kind of worrying about teaching.

I took over classes from Marc and Kurt a few times already. I have sat in every class for about half the average time so I have had a chance to see all the kids.I'd say I've seen 90% of the Hogwon kids. They all know my name and know I am the new teacher. I was sitting in class waiting for class to start because Marc went for a pen or something, and I had a kid call me over with "Teacher, what is this word ?" WOW, what a good feeling that was.

Today is the celebration of the driving out of the Japanese after World War II. It is a national holiday, so there is no school. So my first week has been very unusual. Friday they went swimming, so there were no kidergardeners, one of the "monthly activities" they do.The hogwon was business as usual. Monday was a normal day and I got to see all the kids. Tueday we went on the government field trip. Wednesday, no school due to the holiday. It's a shame, I could really get used to all this special stuff.

Kurt took me to a good fried chicken restuarant down the street two nights ago, and I know where the local KFC/Burger king are now, but I think I'll skip out on them now while my pallet adjusts to all the chili powder in Korean cooking. Some of the food that they have been describing as "hot" have some kick to them, but are nothing to some of the jabenero chili/salsa at home. They say "different kind of spices". I don't think spicy Mexican is popular here at all. Looks like I'd have a hell of a trip to "Make a run for the border". >=0)

We had a good storm yesterday, and since no one owns dryers in Korea, the people drying their towels are probably pissed. Looks like keep the laundry clean is as much up to the weather as it is to persistance.

The past two nights after classes have been spent in that alcoholic haze that induces that profound intrest in people's personal philosophy. Kurt considers himself a buddist now, and Marc told me about his evangelical past as we all tried to relate and get a perception of what each of us is about. I won't bother with the hazy drunk talk, but the topics ranged from the meaning of religion, self, the afterlife, the 1985 Chicago Bears, and gun control. Deep stuff, without a doubt.

I don't know what I'll be doing on my day off, so if I do end up doing something and tonight,coherent to type out the experience, expect an update. I think my normal pattern of updating will be something early in the morning to recap the past days activities, and depending on time and access, one maybe two updates through out the day. Of course, since the majority of my readers are probably sitting in a time zone 13+ hours away from me, you'll just see the updates up like magic appearing as if they were left by the "Blog Fairy" on your computer.
posted by torgodevil at8/15/2001 08:53:47 AM

the images refuse to be linked right now. I will play with it later, I need to get off the computer for the day. Ugh.
posted by torgodevil at8/14/2001 09:25:10 AM

I have to get the FTP client working to upload my pictures, but I am close. Looks like we are going on a field trip today. More updates later.
posted by torgodevil at8/14/2001 09:11:40 AM

I am in the middle of the first day of helping teach the kindergardeners. I have sat in both the classes that are taught for half the time so that the kids can figure out my name and that I am a new teacher. Some of the kids have an attention span of about 3 minutes, others about 5, so it is important to keep it fresh by rotating and always doing something new to keep them interested. It's going to be a challenge to make an ass out myself, day after day, singing songs like "Monster in the tree" or "Twinkle Twinkle little star". I see why they require a college degree for this. >=0)

Yesterday was spent on the computer chatting to friends willing to stay up to talk to me and going to the store. At the store made a mistake and didn't get my grapes or bananas put on the scale before I went to pay, much to the dismay of the cashier. I was stared at for being the clueless American I am as she went to have them priced for me. People were like "What the hell did he do" as I stood by the register waiting to pay till she got back.

I learned enough Korean to read our school's name and some other things, I have about 10 more letters and some other things to get down. Carey gave me a cheat sheet to help me learn the Korean numbering system. I should have that down by the end of the week no problem I hope. I have some more kids to teach today, then I think a LONG nap is in order as had a rough morning because of the dumb rooster.
posted by torgodevil at8/13/2001 01:52:40 PM

Lazy rainy day here, since there are no classes to teach. I have been studying Korean, and I have most of the letters memorized, so I am making some progress I hope. I hit a wall memorizing new letters, so I decided to relax with some 'Worms:Armaggedon', and the game I was told I HAVE to play, 'Age of Empires'. You want to discover a challenge, try learning a real time strategy game in another language. It's a bitch.

posted by torgodevil at8/12/2001 02:58:09 PM

***There will be a slight delay in the picture postings because my USB camera will need an adapter before I can get the pictures off the memory card and that might take some internet searching.Not only that, I also need to find an adapter and also see if I can recharge my batteries. I'm sure I will be able to find it all at 'Magnet' the local supermarket.Sorry, I had no way of knowing what they had here.***

Speaking of Magnet, I had my first adventure solo in Korea. I went to the market by myself to go shopping for food and supplies. I went into the store with a backpack, intent on carrying my food out. There is a lady at a gate that surrounds the shopping area that would not let me in. Looking around I saw lockers, so I assumed it was the backpack keeping me from getting in. Step one, figure out how to get a locker.

I watched someone put change in the door, take the key, put the stuff in it. It's the same as home. Except I wasn't carrying any coins. Step two, get the proper coins. I was directed to a change machine, and luckily I had a 1000 won bill so I could get the proper coinage of ten 100 won coins for the locker doors. There was a little child that said 'Hello' to me, and helped me figure out the door procedure. I put my hands up in victory afterwords and it gave him a laugh.

With the backpack stowed away and me with the locker key I set out back to the gate keeper lady. She kindly let me in, and I was then wondering around in the market. To say their packaging is a little different is true, and while I remain functionally illiterate, I bought things in clear plastic, or things with big pictures to let me know what the hell I had. My puchase of "Golden Squash" drink was based solely on the picture, and I did later find out that yes, in Korea, oranges are called 'Golden Squash'. Walking back I had a profound sense of accomplishment for purchasing things I really didn't need. I forgot 90% of the items on my list due to the overwhelming aspects of getting in the store.

After that I met Iris, Kurt's girlfriend and we walked over to Marc and Carey's pad. They tried to teach me 'gostop', a game with about 30 different rules that is like if rummy meets memory. It's kind of overwhelming, I was longing for something simple like Hearts or Spades. We drove around in the tiniest car I have ever been in, owned by the computer teacher here at Rawoori, and we went bowling. If you ever go to Korea to bowl, keep in mind two things, since space is a premium here, their will probably only be 8 lanes, and since you wear sandals all day, BRING SOCKS. I did, and I am glad I did as I saw other people playing in alley shoes barefoot (boogles the mind how bad an idea that is). Brunswick puts the same stuff out in Korea as they do in America, so it was really easy to adapt to play the game, if you could fit your fingers in the balls. I'm not kidding, I found 3 balls in the entire place that would let me put my middle/forefinger in it.

After two hard nights of drinking, we stayed sober, so I went to sleep out of general exhaustion, not an alcoholic haze for the first time in Korea.
posted by torgodevil at8/12/2001 10:06:29 AM