Chanan Miguksaramieyo and bad ideas in the cold

So it's Tuesday so you know what that means Hangul classes! (Hangul means Korean) And it is super exciting, I have completed my alphabet training and now I can read in Korean even if I don't know what any words mean, but it is a step in the right direction. Today I learned how to introduce myself as well as tell people I am an American or (miguk saram). All and all it is a lot of fun and hopefully come a year from now I can order my favorite Korean dish (beebimbap) in Korean. But barring that tell my cab driver how to get me home.
So there are some issues that I forgot to tell people about but I think I can cover tonight before I head to bed. First and foremost, the Chinese Yellow dust, a really big snore, all it really is is really bad pollution and extra sneeze attacks yawn. My local Korean family, they are a lot of fun if they do push a strong missionary convert vibe, but hey they made me porridge (like a bear!) and strawberries. Also I managed to attend a kindergarten birthday party, it was part of my teaching, but I will be posting pictures (I know I always say that) soon. Whats great about the party is that it is a big fun day where we run around and play in a ball pit no less. Best thing about the party is they dress up the birthday kids in prince and princess outfits and then take pictures. So I met some cool people this weekend and one of them asks me if I wanted their phone number my response...I don't really like to talk to people on the phone. So as always I'm an idiot.

And that's a full lid.
Will out

Sessions up insert two quarters for a whole new existence

So the teaching session is up and you know what that means, ECC has changed my entire schedule largely invalidating a lot of the work that I did to get ready for April. Joy. Not that it is too much of a burden, I mean for tomorrow all I have to do is fill out paper evaluations for all of my Kindy kids, do online evals for my other 40 kids, change the syllabus for my Kindys, create journal topics, and correct journals, all while creating a newish curriculum for middle schoolers who are almost the same level as my youngest students. Oh well I am going to teach these kids English or die trying. Scratch that I am going to teach these kids English or, succumb to lowered expectations. Not yet I hope.


Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.


maybe this is too difficult for the kiddos... but who knows maybe not.
I'm off to sleep, tootles pasties.

p.s. Props and postcards to anyone that knows the reference.

Mandu and a night out

So let me tell you about my Friday night, after the tests and a full week I felt like something special was required so I went out to dinner with some co-workers. We couldn't decide upon what to eat with the options ranging from pickled cabbage to Chinese food. We finally decided that the best option would be some dumplings (mandu) so we head to the local mandu house.

The place we find is great its a small hole in the wall with tin roof ceilings and wood palette walls. Makes me think of what 1950's Korea would look like if they had steady electricity (they might have had that I really know nothing about Korea after the Japanese were pushed out, and making sweeping generalizations seems to work for others so why not me?). Let's just say the place looked pretty cool. So me and two co-workers sit down at this little table and begin to decide what we want to eat. It is shortly after we sit down that I notice that they have glass bottles of Coca Cola and I think it is awesome I so I immediately order one, complete with Hangul characters and all. This is where a picture would be fantastic, but I didn't bring my camera because I was foolish. After having a delicious coke, we order what appears to be a platter of dumplings. I should mention that John one of the guys with me is almost fluent in Korean so he handles the responsibility of ordering the food for us. What we get brought to us is not in fact delicious dumplings but a soup of some sort. Now this is not your ordinary soup but actually a fish soup of sorts complete with a whole octopus, headed shrimp, various shells (including one that I think might be a conch) and a bunch of interesting looking mushrooms. Now I will say when you enter into a dumpling house you expect many things but I for one did not expect a full octopus or shells, but this is Korea after all. I attempt to start eating the soup but the matron shoos me away and informs us that the food is not yet cooked and needs more time to be safe to eat. Yay! So we get to stare at the various sea creatures and think about how could we have gone so far astray from our original plans. Finally after some grueling minutes we are given the all clear and are allowed to tuck in. Here's the thing, the food is delicious, absolutely delightful. And better yet hidden under the seafood platter is none other than mandu dumplings. Turns out to be one of the better meals that I have had in K-town, and to think it all happened with what appeared to be a great mistake.

So we eat and pay the establishment and go about our merry way. On the way to the taxi stand we come across a bad-ass looking radish, (I am going to return to the alley just to take pictures of the radish) and a hilarious cartoon about Korean restaurants. It is when we are about 7 minutes away from the restaurant that we notice this woman running behind us attempting to flag us down. It appears that our credit card didn't go through as planned and we have to return to the restaurant. My question is how did this lady find us, oh yea there's like 5 white guys in the entire city and I am with 2 of them, really inconspicuous us. So it is at this point that I am told that in Korea when you use your credit card you receive a text message from the bank telling you of your purchase, kind of an interesting way to avoid identity theft. We pay again (maybe only once but who can be sure I was still in a stupor from the mandu) and head out to meet up with some friends in Wolpeyong-dong (dong=neighbor hood, think Adam's Morgan).

We arrive at the bar and I meet some of the most interesting characters that you could imagine. I met a British dude that had been in the country for about 5 minutes but already seeing the sights, coincidentally it is this same British dude that begins to ask people if they know where the prostitutes hang out. Such a lovely place England. I also met some lovely Irish folks, Eddie, Finton, Aoife, and one whose name escapes me. I had a lovely conversation about art, where I learned once again that Pissaro is not a pointillists, but Seurat, or is it the reverse? Who can be sure, surely not I. I did manage to hold my own in the round table discussion of arts and leisure and also managed to convince the girls to check a guy named Ansel, because they had no idea who he was. After my lovely conversation of art I manage to meet my first taste of home, and by that I mean Korean Maggie. Korean Maggie is a girl that has been in the country for only a few weeks but works in the same neighborhood as I do, and the reason she is called Korean Maggie (real name Cassie) is that she looks exactly the same as DC Maggie or as she likes to be called Mags to riches. So similar is her appearance that I am fairly certain I questioned her lineage to find out if the two were related. (She claims not to know of anyone named Downing but I know the truth). So I must befriend her and claim her picture so that the folks back home can weigh in on my boast.

Until next time kiddos,
Papa Duck out.

Test days

So Friday was test day at my school. Test days are a nice respite from the seemingly hectic and chaotic normal days, only they are another form of chaos. Test days happen once a month and it is just a spoken test about the grammar and English words taught that month. We administer the test by pulling the children out into the hall and have them listen to a scratchy audio prompting from a CD. The child is then expected to answer the question that was raised by the CD. I am merely there to make sure that the child answers the question fully and in proper English at which point I enter in a score in a score book. That is how it is supposed to go in theory, but as I am learning, in Korea nothing ever goes as planned.
The first problem is that I am not instructed on how I am supposed to administer the test or even told that there is a test. So Thursday comes around and my co-teachers are talking about test days and how they should be a nice break at which point I ask when testing occurs. This leads to them being baffled that the school did not explain the testing process to me and that beyond that saying the school tests students (go figure). So I am given a crash course in testing and I am off to the races. I am sent into my first class and I take the first student, a tastefully named boy (Oscar) and we get cracking. Good thing is that he aces the test, bad thing is that I find out that I shouldn't have let the other kids out of my sight while testing. I return to the class room to find the four girls standing on their desks attempting to see out of the window. On top of them being wild and rather uncontrollable they have decided that they are going to boycott the rest of the testing, because they view them as unfair. I attempt to garner a peaceful resolution by bribing them with word searches. Good thing about that is kids are easily placated. What I had not realized was that they had no idea how a word search works, and they were circling every letter on the page all while screaming "teacher!" and asking for help. I try to act out the words and various circling motions but this only proceeds to confuse them more. Luckily for me the bell is about to ring and it won't be my problem anymore. Except that we have to find a way to test all the kids, and in the first 25 minutes I have tested one of 5 kids. I race through the other four tests, in the remaining 15 minutes and stave off me having to keep the kids after class. One class down 5 more to go!

The other classes are even more difficult to test because they are more advanced classes with more advanced questions. I also have no idea what I am supposed to be grading these kids on because I don't have a scale or any guidance as for what to look for, and they know very little English. I ultimately decide that I am going to be a forgiving grader and pass the kids who talk while failing those that don't. I run into a problem with that almost immediately. Now I know that learning a foreign language is difficult and is bound to be filled with trying times, but whenever I was given an oral examination I knew that I was supposed to talk, even if it wasn't correct grammar or even if it was off topic. Apparently these kids have never gotten the memo, and prefer to sit there silent while looking at me with the most bewildered expression imaginable. I realize that the problem might be because the audio CD is stupid and asks silly and obscure questions like "Where can you find the menu?" when talking about food. I know that the menu can be found at the restaurant but I have a lot of experience in the matter. Quick side note: In Korea it is common practice to give one menu per party as opposed to the "western" (can't believe this is a western notion) idea of one menu per person. This leads to a logjam of people attempting to pass around one menu and decide simultaneously what they want to eat at the same time. One major problem that happens every single time I go out to eat is that the menu is completely in Korean, and there are no pictures of what is being served. Usually I just stab randomly at the menu and pray for something tasty, but if it is good I don't know the name of it so I can never order it again, alas. But back to my point, maybe the kids don't know where to find the menu because it is a problem that is currently afflicting the majority of the Korean population. Just saying. So I am testing these children who want to do nothing but sit quietly and look at me blankly, while I attempt to do all in my power to get them to say anything in English. I try prompting, I ask them about the weather, I tell them the answer hoping they might repeat the words back to me. Nothing, these kids won't say a damned thing. Which is frustrating, but not nearly as much I am fearing that I am going to be fired because I cannot teach the kids to say simple words. Meanwhile as I am goading the kids into talking the classroom is boiling over with kids screaming and singing, and dancing, and doing anything except for the one thing I asked them, which was to be quiet and do a word puzzle. While testing, I overhear this outburst from a fellow teacher, "I asked you guys to do one thing for me today! I said please please please don't make me hate my life for the next 40 minutes, and you are doing just that!"

Just another day teaching in Korea. Good news is that I get to do it all again on Monday, because I didn't finish. joy :)

Until next time past dwellers

Bomber runs and childhood epiphanys

So my bike arrived in the mail on wednesday and I cannot even express how excited and gleeful I have been since getting it. It is like I have been transformed into a 13 yr old boy and its christmas. I really cannot remember a purchase that has made me happier for no real apparent reason than this. Maybe its the fact that owning a bike in Korea is a little piece of americana even though it seems to me to be a much more asian thing who knows. A fun thing about biking in Korea is that the people dont freak out that there is a cyclist on bikepath so it is kind of like frogger. Combine the frogger feeling with the Asian themed streets (think vegas but gone nuts) and you get yourself bombing down a street in the cold with Koreans weaving in and out of you all and all its a fantastic experience. Ok gotta run more later

Will out

Snow, Korean, Spine soup and being a weyguk.

So its a lovely spring night here in Daejeon, with the snow falling painting a picture I haven't known since Spring in New England. It must be a feeling of nostalgia that is overtaking me because I have decided to make a purchase that will not only bring about a refreshing change to my morning commute but will also rejuvenate my mind and soul. I am speaking of course of a bicycle! But before I post the lovely pictures of my childhood ambition I must let it arrive by mail. Other than my giddiness over this matter let me also explain that I had spine soup tonight. Spine soup for those of you that aren't aware is a red soup with chunks of cow spine. Yum! I need to keep a running diary of all the strange things that I eat while I am over here because I know that I won't get people to believe me when I return. On the menu whilst I am here is live octopus and who knows what else. Ok I am rambling and this post is not nearly as coherent as I thought it would be when I began, so I will try again tomorrow.

See ya Pastimers.

p.s. weyguk is foreigner.

A new study reports teachers more likely to drink than counterparts...

So I was reading this study, and by study I mean my thoughts, about how teaching kindergarten kids makes people want to either drink, scream, or collapse into a pile of tears. Now I fully understood that when I signed up for this job it would be frequently filled with frustrating moments as well as fruitful and fulfilling ones. (enough F words in that sentence?) But that still doesn't prepare one for experience. Normally children are bad enough and misbehave from time to time which is to be expected, but this is compounded by the fact that my kids are largely ignorant of simple English commands like stop or listen, so when I attempt to rein them in it largely ends up in blank stares and them continuing what they were doing anyways. I have found out that punishing them works a little bit, but I don't really want to do it any more. I have yet to find a suitable balance between reward and punishment. It also helps that I have fallen into a trap that I created for myself, by that I mean I have some favorite students. I know that it is one of the worst things a teacher can do, but in my defense I have not let it affect my teaching, thats probably saying more about my lack of teaching style than my ethical behavior but whatever. The other problem that I have been unable to solve as of yet is whether or not some of my students are stupid, or they just don't understand a single thing I am saying. As of right now I feel like I have several children who either cannot or will not pay attention in class, as well as some students who are just prone to misbehavior. But even with all of that I feel like as long as I don't have 3 terrible classes in a row things will be ok.

Today has been especially trying for me so far because I have had 3 terrible classes in a row putting me at Defcon 2 which is a few steps away from a full on screaming meltdown. It all started with one of my favorite students spending the first two hours crying, and add in my other children ignoring all of my requests leaving me a blubbering and blithering idiot filled with stammers and indignation. It probably doesn't help that I overslept this morning (after having a fantastic dream, I mean probably top ten) and feel like I am one or eight steps behind this morning. Even with me running late I should be more composed but I suppose everyone is allowed to have a bad day or a trial once in awhile. I guess I just need to pick myself up off ground dust myself off and charge back in. I mean its like the famously wise sage D-Wade said fall down 7 times get up 8.

Will out

Daejeon land of decoys

Lovely evening here in Daejeon, a brisk cold evening is just what the Doctor ordered for a head that is swimming with schools of uncertainties and postulations. It is a little past midnight right now and I am listening to the Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)" thanks to a friends suggestion. If you haven't had the pleasure of listening I would recommend it at your earliest convenience. So the reason I bring up the weather is that I have been largely remiss in telling you brave readers much at all about my homestead, and it is high time I atone for that mistake. Daejeon is a lovely city, if not quite like anything I have experienced before in my life. I live in the Northwest part of the city right at the outskirts of what can be considered Daejeon, luckily for me the subway still comes this far (think Friendship Heights).

Now I have some interesting pictures from the roof of my apartment, I know rooftop access is the dream...all I had to do was move to Korea, hmm seems like I am noticing a trend...anywho somethings to notice about Daejeon. I barely know where I live, and that is not because I am forgetful or stupid, but rather because anything and I mean anything at all that you would think of to use as a landmark like a fluorescent orange cross is not unique, not even scarce. There are four such crosses within 500 ft of my apartment.

This is the southeasterly view from my roof,
off in the distance on the right is Daejeon proper.


Hey look the star is out!

Now I bet youre saying why doesn't he just head
to the area of town with the four orange crosses?
Well that would make sense except that just on my
way to work I walk by about 10 or so churches and
I don't even live near the religious section of town.

If landmarks don't work why not just use the street signs? Well even if I spoke or read Korean (give me another two weeks) it wouldnt help me a whole lot simply because there are no street signs. All there are signs that tell you of points of interest like the middle school or the hospital pfft, like those are places of interest. Well I luckily have not gotten lost yet, but I will admit my explorers bug has been tempered a bit by this unease of knowing how to get back home, but hey I don't think Magellan knew where he was either.

I would say more but it has taken me an hour to write this much, I get distracted and now I am listening to the Doves "Cedar Room" and I should go to bed. I am going to attempt to be more structured in my posting on this blog and I also hope that those that read this will comment freely on it, I've been told I have a bit of Cruise director in me and I love group participation. I hope that all is going well back in the West, miss you all heaps.

Until next time past dwellers.

Next issue: Korean girls and their two syllable pronunciation of the word cute, and its not the two syllables you're thinking. Plus the crazy family I made friends with...

Time distortion and a lack of effort

So I have now lived in Korea for a full two weeks it is time to address how things are going here in Daejeon. Things are really good so far teaching is fun and there are some good people here, I will admit that I am beginning to worry though. The reason that I am worried is that time over here in the land of the Morning Calm seems to have extended and last longer than good ol' USA time. Maybe my perception is just off and that I am still adjusting to the flow here, but it feels like I have been here for almost a month and I am slightly shocked to find out that it has only been 14 days. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that I have not ingratiated myself of the locals due to the considerable language barrier and I have also been surprisingly lackadaisacal about exploring this lovely country. Just some thoughts that are flowing through my head at the moment, perhaps I am not being as accepting as I normally would be, and I am clinging too much to the sense of missing my home in DC. Perhaps I should stop watching the West Wing as it is only a too harsh reminder of much that I left behind. That and I am miffed that I am missing March Madness, oh well. Well I am going to go play pool or something and maybe buy a bunny.

Will out

One Cultural misunderstanding coming up...

So let me tell you about my lovely Monday. It started off like most days in the fact that I woke up ate breakfast and went to work. Taught some little Korean's words like robot and monster, it all seemed like I was going to pitch my first complete game, oh how wrong I was. Kindergarten classes were phenomenal with my normal cryers (Rachel and Tiffany were sobbing free) everything was coming up Milhouse. Then afternoon rolls around.

My afternoon classes were to be monitored by my boss to make sure that I am teaching the children correctly without any greivous mistakes or outbursts of anger. Things were going well, Jessica (who likes like the real jessica) had even done her homework and knew how to say umbrella and it's snowing! What should have tipped me off to the fact that trouble was a brewin' was that one of my students had hit another in the eye causing her to collapse into tears. So I enter my second class of the afternoon and no one has done their homework, except for one little girl who did her homework for the entire week. This is the exchange that took place:

Will (addressing the girl):You did two Journal entries? That's crazy, you only had to do one. But good job!

Girl: nothing

I went on teaching that class and then went to my final classes of the afternoon, I was yelled at by a student named Flora who refused to answer any of my questions and made my life rather difficult. So I decided to play a game with the class, hangman, where I cleverly informed the class that they were about to be punished. After class I keep troublemaker number one, Flora after class and I try and level with her. So I level with her and after class I talk to my co-teacher who is Korean to see if she can make sure she understands.

It is right about now that all things go to hell in a hand basket...first off my boss Michelle comes to me and asks me if I called a student crazy. The reason she asks is because the student Sera, has been crying nonstop for the past three hours and feels like she has been called mentally unstable. So the mother wants to pull her child from the program and is shocked that they have hired a person that is so insensitive and unable to deal with other humans. So yea I managed to alienate a child to the point that she wants to quit school not because I was displeased with her in the slightest but rather because I complimented her and was truly surprised at her extraordinary effort. So yea I have to say that cultural confusions are going to be a commonplace in my experience here. Oh yea so the other kick to the shins was the reason Flora was so difficult is because she cannot explain her feelings towards a new teacher while she is adjusting to her new adult body. So yea life is faaaaaaantastic here. Let's hope the week looks up soon.

Will out

Why have one holiday when you can have three!

The new week is here and its time to start my second week as a teacher yay! I really think I have gotten into the swing of things, I can quiet a classroom with a single glance, mind you I have to be screaming at the top of my lungs but progress is progress. But before I get into my lovely monday, let me explain a lovely Korean holiday or really three holidays known as Valentine's Day, White Day and Black Day.
Now we all know what Valentine's day is but in Korea they have effectively changed the rules a little bit. Valentine's day is a man's holiday, in the sense that only men recieve gifts and attention on this day. Now White day is one month later in March is White day, the day that all the women get their special attention and gifts. Now one month later than that is when things in Korea get really interesting on Black day. Now Black day is a day for single people, the day consists of everyone who recieved no gifts on either Valentine's day or White day going out en masse and eating Chinese black noodle. This is a matter of solidarity between all these supposedly sad people who have "nothing" in their lives. My friend likes to believe that they go out and eat to celebrate not making a mistake of marrying the wrong person, but either way Black day is a bunch of lonely people going out together to get drunk and eat noodles, or the worlds largest speed dating night.

That's all for now, because I am what is becoming a trend running a bit late to work. See ya past dwellers.

In a town that doesn't close until 8 am...I meet the one Canadian that I don't like

So the week was over and the weekend had begun its full tilt with a kickoff dinner on Friday night at a Korean restaurant that I am still unsure of what we ate maybe galbi?...(not dog JD don't worry). It seems to be practice in Korea to have cabbage with everything so I am getting a healthy dose of that, but its 3 bucks wholesale for four sticks of asparagus and brussel sprouts haven't made the leap yet. So Friday night was fun, in the sense that it was a bunch of foreigners filling up an otherwise ordinary restaurant in some dong (neighborhood) in Daejeon. Good things to come out of the night was a hilarious realization that Canadians think that they have a special type of spices known as "savory" (really just a mix of oregano and parsley) that is unique to Canada. So Friday was a good time, but Saturday really was the bell of the ball.

Saturday I had to go into work so I could devise a plan to effectively teach these children important English/American concepts; primarily gang signs, and the merits of the Boston Red Sox over the evil New York Yankees. After drafting a flawless teachers manual for myself I met up with my neighbor Landon to go get pizza and check out the movie Watchmen. We went to a pizza shop that was called "Rice Pizza" with a picture of scarecrow how could this not be fantastic! Good thing it was a tasty pizza if cost more than 3 other meals combined. So it was off to the movies.
Important things to know about Korean movie theatres, they are all inside of large office buildings with limited signage and they have assigned seating. The good thing to note is that movies in Korea are absurdly cheap, I mean it was cheap to the point that I worried it was a bootleg copy or something, (7,000 won?!! aka $4.50 for a Saturday night showing). The movie it self was pretty good except that I was not expecting such gratuitous violence or nudity so I was a bit surprised. The movie got out at 12:30 and it appeared that the night for Landon and I was just starting.
We decided to head to Gungdong to see if we could find our friends, we did not but what we found was worth it in its own right. So we arrive in gungdong which is a pretty standard area for entertainment with neon lights up the sides of the buildings. The first thing I notice is a strong smell of urine, because apparently public urination is not frowned upon in the least bit but at least everything appears clean. We start roving the crowds and lo and behold we run into foreigners but we do not know them which, is surprising, because there are not many foreigners in this little town. So as we are walking up and down the streets we find a place called I <3 dogs cafe. We are immediately drawn to the site, because we have heard that they have cafe's where there are literally hundreds of dogs that just hang out with you as you eat. Alas it was closed but I shall return to the puppy play station one day soon. We then search some mre and decide to enter a bar called the crying nut because they are playing American music, what we see in there is also apparently commonplace, children, toddlers really are in the bar and just dancing. So toddlers are allowed in bars...not to be alarming but WHY WOULD YOU ALLOW A TODDLER IN A BAR AT 1:30 IN THE MORNING AND WHY WOULD YOU ALLOW THEM TO DANCE WITH STRANGERS WHILE YOU GET DRUNK IN THE CORNER!!!! ok rant over. We decide to leave this bar and head to a different part of town to a foreigner bar called Santa's (I might be able to understand why a child was there). Best part about getting to Santa's is we get lost in the cab and are dropped off literally 100 feet from where we entered the cab. But hey it only cost 3 dollars total so no complaints. We find Santa's and it appears to be the place where the expats all hang out, well at least so it doesn't feel like I am completely alone in this country. While we are hanging out there I am pulled aside by this Korean woman who is looking for a phone charger, not her phone charger mind you but if I have one that she could borrow. After I explain to her that it is unlikely that she will find a phone charger she begins to question me about my age. She doesn't believe me and insists that I am three. I attempt to dissuade her but she collapses into a fit of giggles while holding up three fingers at me and saying "Three three!!!". It is at this point that she drags me over to her friend and demands that I make her laugh because she is sad. I fail at that attempt, because I am still very confused as to what is going on. But luckily I am saved because I am pulled into a enthusiastic game of darts. It is while playing darts, and almost accidentally killing a patron who wanders into the game, that we meet up with some interesting characters some South Africans, an Oregonian and the one awful Canadian. The SA girls are nice and friendly while the American is also very excited to meet some fine fellows. Ms. Canada on the other had is either boring or just rude. Here is a rough transcript of what occurred.
Will:Oh hi I'm Will I don't think we have met yet.
Evil Girl: That's right we haven't been introduced.
End Scene.

After some time has passed I once again to be friendly to this girl when this interaction happens:
Will: So I hear you are from Canada, what part are you from?
EG: The part that is not in America.
Scene.

So I am going out on a limb and saying that she is either just not very bright or just lacks any sense of civility towards her fellow man. But one of the girls we met vouched for her so I am willing to give her a second chance. So we end up hanging out with these girls for the rest of the night and manage to stay up until sun rise an event not really intended by any party. But hey it was fun, and you can sleep when you're dead. So Daejeon weekends appear to be a continuation of the adventuring that I started off in DC. Let's hope the fun never ends.

Until next time past dwellers!

First week down

So my first week has come and gone and I am still here, and I expect to be doing so for awhile longer. If I had to summarize my experiences of my first week is that it was one of self exploration and discovery. What I mean by that is that I have largely been figuring out what to do on my own with little to no academic supervision. So I wake up and I go to class, I teach the kids some new words like pencil and frog, and largely go about my day. Is this a good way to teach the kids english? I am not certain one way or the other, all I know is that when you don't give directions to the cook you can't be upset when you get an omelette when you asked for for egg salad. (so apparently my new thing is to make up sayings, I think the previous one could use some work but hey what do I know?)
So with each passing class I feel much more confident that I am actually capable of teaching these children my native tongue. My day is divided into morning (kindy, prounounced kin-dee) classes and the more advanced afternoon classes. Kindy classes are fun, if a bit exhausting I still have not figured out the reward/punishment system that is best suited for learning. Currently I am very strict, which is contrary to my initial expectations, I assumed I would be very lenient and let the kids run wild, but that is not the case. I have been having a difficult time discerning when a child is stupid, bad, or just has a type of learning disability. Most of the time I can tell, but there are certain situations where I have no idea what is going on with the child. I have found several ways to entertain the children, no readings of Dr. Suess yet but soon hopefully, currently my favorite is I dance for the kids, only clothed. It is kind of raising a trial child, only if I decided that I wanted to up the difficulty and do it alone. And in Korea.
So classes are fun, I am learning a lot about American and English culture that I had not known before, did you know that Sally is a name only for ugly girls? Thats what my student Angel (couldn't possibly be more misnamed) told me. Also in case you were curious everyone in Korea is always fine, and everything happens because. My afternoon classes are a riot in the sense that many of my kids do not realize how hilarious they are being, whether its what they say, or how they scream all the time, or how one little boy's mother is attempting to raise a Korean Liberace (pictures to follow). All in all it leads me to the belief that I am not a teacher at all more along the lines of a thesaurus with arms.
Speaking of teaching I have to run into the office again on a Saturday because the work of teacher is never over, I have more to say about a korean festival known as White day, and also about how I am largely looked at as mytholigical creature (no Koreans I am not here for your souls, well except you Sora...)

Until next time...hope the daylight savings time went off without a hitch.

What lies ahead...

Another day and some more won in my pocket, good news is that the won seems to be doing a trifle better than it was when I arrived so my money might not all be worthless in the exchange after all. This Wednesday was a good one as I finally have an idea of what I am supposed to be teaching these children.
A few things to keep in mind, (as I listen to "I'm From Barcelona" thanks Virginia ) teaching in Korea is constantly a balance between babysitting and actual teaching, I have learned that Korean kids are just as rambunctious as American ones with the small difference of them not understanding English. People here are much more handsy here and less understanding about personal space. So you can find yourself being swarmed by children and adults alike at any given moment. I witnessed my first fight today, as one of my charges started fighting another little boy, Koreans fight dirty, its mainly headbutts and kicking while your down. But I managed to separate the two troublemakers after a small while. Other than than that school is going pretty well, excepting a small breakdown of a coworker.

This was my first experience seeing a foreigner go through one of the dreaded "I hate Korea days" which seems to be afflict everyone at some point or another. It is hard to understand exactly what it could feel like, not having gone through it myself, but I imagine it to be a breaking point where seeing new and different things is just too much to bear. The person only then craves a return to normalcy and things that make sense at least from a familiarity standpoint. I hope that I don't experience one of these days but if I do I can at least retreat to my home and BOB it up, because no matter how crummy things might be, at least I am not fighting facism in 1940's Europe.

Enough of the sad talk! Only happy thoughts from here on out. Today was my first attempt using my washing machine which worked with mixed results. My clothing is clean! I think...at the very least it is wet, which is an integral part of the cleaning process. I must get ready for work now as I am running a tad bit behind, (can't seem to shake this sleepyness) Until next time friends, family, and foes.

In the next issue: The Chinese Yellow Dust arrives! Think pixie dust only toxic :-/

Korean Tuesdays

That is mondays for most of you folks, but its all the same to me. Another day another bunch of classes. Good news only one kid cried today (two if you count me) but other than that today was pretty good, as I felt very well prepared for all of my classes. Today was good for many a reason I found out that Korea is the land of Cake and Pie, as I have gotten either or both everyday I have been in Korea so that's nice. Other things of note my trial by fire teaching experiment is rapidly coming to a close and soon I will be the grizzled veteran that has every nuance and problem solved.

I started to learn Korean today, I have begun the task of learning Hangul and soon after I will begin conversing with the hopes that I will be largely self sufficient, but I will consider it a victory if I can order a coffee without needing an interpreter. Do you have any idea how hard it is to mime drinking coffee? It's damn near impossible! Best thing about my learning Korean is that it is a free service, so I get all the benefits none of the cost.

We, (my co-workers and several Canadian friends) (yay Canada!) went out to get Korean food today, it was a hoot, as they kept on bringing us plate after plate of food, most of which they cook in front of us but all of it is delicious. I will say that the food here is delicious and I know that I am going to miss the tasty inexpensive cooking when/if I return home. Other great thing is it was only 5 bucks for a 7 course meal!

Well I am off to grade journals and contemplate buying a bicycle. Until later freedom friends.

p.s. Being from DC has given me a semi-celebrity status, everyone thinks its the cooooooolest thing ever. Maybe thats just me self projecting but I've never been one to boast... ;)

Poked, Prodded and Pinched the Joys of Teaching

Let it be known that on the Day of Hope 48 in the Year of Progress and Change, I William "Chauncy" Dunkel taught his first class of 1800. What a day it was, but first before the incredible events that transpired I must explain what happened prior to that. So I wake up in the morning and I feel excited it's a new chapter and I've got a shiny new pen to use. I go through the normal exercises of waking up in Korea, sitting bolt upright wondering where the heck I am before realizing that if I had been kidnapped they would not have turned on the heat. One of the great things I have noticed about Korea so far is that they have heated floors, pretty cool that. So anyways I get ready for work and my boss comes to pick me up so that I can go and get my Korean medical check.
Well after another harrowing driving experience we arrive at the hospital and I am ready to get checked out. Well if I had thought that the one place in the country where I was certain that english would be spoken or at least understood I would have said the hospital. Boy I can be really really really really wrong sometimes. No one in the hospital speaks english, they know of a few words like hello and sit down and my favorite blood! followed by a gesture of bleeding. So I am guided through a multi-stepped check up to make sure that I am healthy enough to be in Korea. It is kind of like the passing the physical after a major trade in baseball, except the ramifications are unclear if I fail.
So these Korean hospital workers dress me up in a gown, their gowns are actually stylish two piece robes unlike the moomoo smock we use, and send me through the gauntlet. They take my blood pressure, they tell me a number then look at me blankly for ten seconds. I just nodded, which they seemed to take as a good sign. They kept on asking me if I took the urine test to which I always replied yes, but it was if they didn't believe me, I mean why else would they ask at every stop? I took an eye exam, Left eye at 1 right ey at 1.25 any idea what that means? I sure don't. They took blood from me four vials worth, everyone else only had to give two but I had to give four, I think theyre planning on cloning me and selling my clones as white person meat. I'm on to you Korea! So they get me through this incredible affair and I suppose it is what being a child is like where you are led around by the hand forced to sit down and take tests all the while why having not the foggiest idea about what is happening. Good thing to know though I managed to offend the girl helping me because I assumed she was a nurse, but no she was a Med Student. How am I supposed to know girl? Oh well she didn't seem to offended since she introduced me to her student friend.
So I passed through the examination without any problems until I was informed that I have a cavity! 24 years with no dental issues and now I get a stupid cavity, well they say even the Mona Lisa is falling apart. So I will have to deal with that at one of the many different dentists offices around town. Once I get my Alien card that is.
After that fun time we had just enough time to race to school so I could teach my first classes. The great thing about being unprepared for your first day as a teacher is that you can't do anything terribly wrong because the kids don't know enough english to notice that you are teaching the classes wrong. My first class is with 6 year olds, in America that would make them 4 or 5, and I have seven students 5 girls and two boys, they seem like they will be a lively bunch. They are young enough that they don't know that they can act out of line yet and are still encapsilated by the token white guy talking gibberish. I go through the first few words with them and get them to understand the greatest concept ever Boy, Girl, Teacher! They can now differentiate themselves from one another thanks to me! Teaching: All about building up walls! Only one of the little girls cried but I didn't know what to do other than dance in an attempt to make her laugh. Mission not accomplished.
My second class was with older children 7 years old and they have no respect for the authority of teacher...but the do like to color! I let them color for about 2 hours and when that failed we sang songs. I am hoping that my time here is more than simple babysitting, but I will be okay if it starts out that way. This time only one little girl (Tiffany) cried and only for 5 minutes so I could already see progress in my teaching accumen. I still have not had the chance to read Dr. Seuss to them but I know the day is fast approaching :)
Afternoon classes were much better in the fact that the students have a firm understanding of english and don't want to talk in Korean the whole time. I already have a favorite class, and a least favorite. The favorite class is with a gaggle of girls and Josh that actually listen to what I say. Unfortunately they wanted my picture a lot and one of them asked for my phone number upon noticing I had a cell phone. I had a difficult time explaining to them why I couldn't give them my number but I think they understand.
The worst class wanted to do nothing but make my life miserable by running around and screaming at me but I've got thier number, just keep them after class for 10 minutes in silence and it seems to cure most of what ails them.

Well I had meant to be more descriptive about my first day teaching and how exciting and terrible it was but I am suffering from English disease here in Korea. English disease is what I like to call the degradation of my vocabulary and ability to speak by spending all day repeating words like dog! No! and pie eating contest! Hopefully it is not permanent but more research must be done. But later because now I must be off to work. See you americans!

Skype and Doctors visits

Hey there non Koreans! Hope your weekend was fun. Mine sure was I got to go to work and get lost all in one day! Good thing about being lost in a country you don't speak the language in is that you can't tell them that you are lost. Oh well. So this is just an informational post giving people my contact info so they can get in touch with me either snail mail or instant style. My address is

Will Dunkel
c/o Noeun ECC
YBM ECC Noeun Noeun Best One 5th floor, 638-8, Bansuk-dong,
Youseong-gu, Daejeon, Korea 306-150

for those looking to send packages, letters, boxes, gifts, mexican food etc.

and my skype username is: Dunkelbo

I know super original, but if you want to talk to me for free over the internet I know of no better way. Ok I am going to go shower in my sink (to be explained later) and get ready for my first day of work, which should be something special, also I have a doctors appointment this mroing (morning) so I will probably be late for my first class of my life. Joy!

until next time past dwellers!

A week of firsts

So this week has largely been dominated by me settling in and figuring out exactly how my life is going to function for the next year or so. I have already had small victories in that I seem to have found a group of people my age that are as interested in Korea as I am. Still have not made any friends with the locals but it has been a very short period of time.

Saturday was fun in the sense that I got to explore a little bit of the city. I found a local store called Lotte Marte which is basically a Korean Target. Good thing about that is that it is close by my apartment so I can forage for necessary items. I am slowly learning how very few people know english and how it can be difficult to get help while over here. The people are very willing to help it is just that we are missing some vital connection. Oh well that should change with time. One hilarious encounter with my lack of Korean skill came while I thought I was buying bacon, and the butcher had no idea what I was asking after. Luckily a knowlegeable stranger came and assisted both of us. Not so lucky was the fact that it wasn't bacon but rather delicious pork.

So not one week on the job and I have had to come in on my first weekend to square things away. I now understand why everyone complains about going to the office on the weekend it is kind of a drag but hey work has to be done. So while I was preparing for my first lessons next week I was informed that I will be teaching two kindergarten classes (kindy kids), 4 elementary classes and one middle school class. Best thing about this is that my kindy kids have never been taught english and I have never taught anything. Should be a really effective and special first day. Apparently to make the transition to english easier the children are given english names like Colin, Maria, etc. But I missed out on naming my kids. Maybe I will just name them what I want to anyways. While I was in the office this weekend my boss was rather impressed with my abilities to know which words she was looking for when she couldn't think of the term, looks like my mouthing along with people is finally going to pay off.

I am almost over the jet lag as I feel less tired than normally, but it is taking longer than I had hoped. Tonight my co-worker is having a birthday celebration so normally I would bake cookies for the occaision but Korea doesn't believe in ovens. So I am out of luck.

Well I should continue exploring this lovely land of sunshine and bacon related products. I'll be back with more fun later. Maybe even my mailing address!

Uh what have I gotten myself into...fun thats what!

So today was my first day of work, more like externing because all I did all day was shadow other teachers during their classes. It was a lot of fun and the kids are really cute. With the younger kids it is not so much teaching english as it is training a dog. Sit. Stay. Quiet. But the older kids have a better grasp of the language. One thing I am noticing rapidly about this is that my fellow teachers enjoy to yell, and the kids like yelling back. I hope that I can keep my bunches quiet. I really was lost today and my co-workers were great, not so much the Korean teachers but I suppose that will come with time. Had another moment were I was completely confused that english isnt the main moment at lunch, the whole menu was in Korean (imagine that), but hey I got my fill for 3000 won or 2 bucks. The afternoon was filled with more classes and I apparently am a mini celebrity at school now, probably because I am new. I will say this though during my shadow session I was asked to enter a class that I will be teaching at the students request. It appears that Korean school girls are exactly like their american counter-parts and I am now the object of 8 school girl crushes, at least that is what I assumed the fit of giggles, and secret stares were the entire time I was in the class room. Oh well I suppose I will get used to this attention at some point, but hey I have only been here a day I should let a little more time pass by. Ok I am going to head out tonight because I feel like teaching kindergarten is deserving of a well placed drink.


p.s. The way these kids make me and my fellows feel makes me wonder if I as a kindergartner drove the teacher to drink. Nah couldn't be with an angel like me ;)

First Daejeon night and first impressions of Korea

Korea is a pretty snazzy place, with bright lights and signs everywhere, feels like something out of a movie. So I met up with my Director and she drives me to my new home. Picture are here...I really need to figure out how to format these photos. But that is for another time and another post. So any ways back to the first night, Maria, my director, bought me dinner and breakfast and showed me my apartment, this apartment I still am unsure of where it is but hey it has heated floors! She then proceeds to call my co-workers up so that I can meet them. As it happens they are out having dinner and would love to meet me, Maria once again offers me a lift, that is when I learn my first interesting thing about Korean culture. We are driving to the restaurant when we come up on a Red traffic light, Maria just drives through it while saying "sorry" I feel like she just missed it and it was only to allow non-existent pedestrians cross so I am not too miffed. Turns out that was just the beginning she proceeds to run through several other red lights with cars coming. Shortly after we arrive at dinner a lovely Korean place where you cook your own spring rolls. After that harrowing experience I feel the need to tell these new strangers who are my co-workers of the experience, turns out it wasn't my director who is dangerous but that apparently it is just the manner of driving in Korea.. Thankfully I am not in Seoul where the sidewalk is a lane.

Incheon International Airport and My theory about Korean Girls

So having landed in Korea and then been given the task of getting to Daejeon, with a bit of customs and photo ops mixed in. What I noticed as I everyone on my plane ran by me to get through customs, was the Incheon Airport is very cool, probably helps that it is less than a decade old but still a pretty sweet looking place. My favorite was the statues of the Korean Zodiac soldiers, something about seeing rats and rams garbed for battle makes me giggle. So as I said everyone ran by me to get through customs and I was strolling along just taking in the sights, (I have a strange affinity for airports, I don't know why), I filled out my form and went directly to the open customs counter which all 400 people on my plane had missed. They were pretty pissed off that I "jumped" to the front of the line, but you know what they say about haste. So customs was a breeze and my luggage came up within 90 seconds of me waiting for it, everything was coming up milhouse. I was saddened by the fact that there were no cute beagles to search my luggage but win some lose some right?

So now that I am out of the customs area and it finally hits me, I am in Korea and they don't speak english. I don't know why this came to me as a shock but for some reason I just thought it would be like everyone used english because it is so much better. Fool. So I am juggling all my heavy luggage looking for an ATM as well as the bus stop and a phone to call my school when I just say screw it I am going to get through this on charm. This is where we get to my theory on Korean girls, so far it goes if I act a little bit lost and smile a lot and ask politely I can get help from these girls. I have only had to do this twice so far but right now I am batting a 1000% With my lovely conversation with Ms. Seoul (not the beauty queen she just lived there and I never learned her name) and also my true savior white jacket smile girl, which I well tell you about now. WJSG was going to Daejeon and I befriended her because I thought she would let me use her cell phone. I pull off to perfection my innocent naivette act and voila she lets me use her cell phone. What is more amazing than that is, this Korean family starts hassling me because I was in their seats or something, and she manages to diffuse the situation. On top of that, I fall asleep during the bus ride to Daejeon, and WJSG wakes me up and tells me when and where to get off of the bus because she spoke with my director at school. Nice girl that one.

I will extend the blue hand of friendship...

So its said and done with I have officially left America for the grassy knolls and rolling hills of sweet Korea. Thankfully I left Chicago in one piece even though I did manage to get into a small tiff with a fellow passenger about where his snacks should go, (same place as my foot in a minute!) But the trip over on Korean Airlines was largely uneventful except they fed us korean food YAY Beebimbap! A few things I noticed about Koreans and their culture on the way over. First off, they love children, not in the creepy Michael Jackson way, but more in an over the top Jennifer Garner in Juno kindof way. Second Korean mothers are seemingly ok with letting anyone at all touch their child even take it from them and dance with it, did I mention Koreans love children? Children have free reign and are accountable to no one. This was demonstrated to me by this little 5 year old girl who thought it would be a good idea to stick her face in mine and touch my nose. Also she was running up and down the aisles largely being quiet, so I had few complaints until she started playing with the Emergency exit door, and I was convinced I was going to be launched into the frigid 35,000 ft air. Thankfully she decided not to murder us all. But aside from that the flight was fun. I made friends with the support staff by hilariously exploding a pen over my hand and turning it blue. They seemed to find this extremely funny. I unfortunately did not get the joke. So at least I can be known as William the Blue when I land in Korea, because everyone needs a title.

Musings and forgotten thoughts...

So since I was exhausted when I last posted I forgot to mention a few interesting things. First off I met Jason Bateman! Well by met I mean I creepily stared at and attempted to surreptitiously take his picture using my phone. I failed. He totally noticed. But it is ok because there is a slim possibility that it was not Jason Bateman, he had a beard and was speaking in spanish, and was playing imaginary golf one handed by himself. But I am 99% certain it was him! I will post the picture as soon as I figure out how.

(which may be never)

Also in my travels I have found out that being a member of Red Sox nation has its drawbacks. Mr. Evil (from Evil airlines) was giving me a hard time because I was wearing Sox garb. The thing is he isn't a Yankees fan or even a hometown Chicago fan but a Phillies fan. When I told him he was supposed to hate the Mets he mumbled something about Boston always beating Philly in interleague play. Well I guess you can take the fan out of philly...Ok I am off to the airport to complete my dream of sleeping and living in a cramped closet-like experience with delicious and succulent puppy for every meal.

See ya!

On second thought...

So the big day has come and gone and now North America is largely sans-will, Korea is a bright sunny jewel of Asia with startlingly pleasant zephyrs and gentle, adoring sunlight. Well that is what I am hoping it to be but I still cannot say for certain because United Airlines, henceforth known as Evil Air, screwed the pooch, and dumped me in the Midwest.

Let's recap shall we. I woke up this morning and was all prepared to leave the US for Big Korea, anxious yes but still largely excited. If only I had known that an adventure was about to befall me, I wonder what its like living a quiet life, but alas. So its 5 am and I am roused out of bed by Sister and Brother in-law and told to get crackin'. So I tousled my hair and got ready to leave one last time, hopped in the shower with the idea that I should cut off my scruffiness. Now I don't know how many of you have had the pleasure of shaving, but I recommend that you use a mirror as opposed to the force like I did. This way you won't end up with a mildly distinguished off-center soul patch. Should have seen the signs but hey I never said I was observant. So I am dropped off at BWI and we go and get a cup of coffee at Starbucks, too bad they don't know how to make a mocha...oh well. So it is good bye time now, Johanna manages to impress a security guard with her good bye. Bravo. Now onto the fun stuff.

Waiting line at security I manage to hold up the line because I forget I have my belt on and I keep setting off the alarm. Sheepishly I retreat to the back of the line, when I am yelled at by the guard because I am not paying attention. Who has ever heard of me not listening to people? So now me and all of my disgruntled friends leave security to get on Evil Airs flight to Chicago. Well the plane is late they tell me, well they tell me 20 minutes after we were supposed to board but whatever. So we are all waiting for the plane to arrive and I realize that I might miss my connection so I go to the desk and ask the lady whats up. She says the plane is running an hour behind but will make it with plenty of time for me to make my connection. Oh wait you have an international connection?, grimacing yea you will be fine.Luckily for me she explains that the delay with the plane is mechanically related so if I am unfortunate to miss my flight then Evil will pay for everything else. Yay.

Boarding time comes on by and I ask if I can switch my seat to increase the odds of me making my flight?
"Why do you have a friend you wanna be near or something?" says the steward.
"uh no I just have to get on a plane to Korea 15 minutes after we land."
"You'll be fine, O'hare is really nice and easy to understand"

So it ends up that I am placed in the last row of the plane next to two babbys. Just great. So I decide to make the best of a bad situation and I promptly pass out only to be woken by the baby who has found out that if he screams his father won't stop him, thus encouraging him to scream more. I take about an hour or so of this before I take matters into my own hands. I punt er placate the baby by the only means I know how. I put on an impromptu puppet show starring me and a bouncy raccoon called Rocky. The lovable child is enthralled and more importantly has lost its ability to make sounds. Thank goodness, that bought roughly 10 minutes of silence before we have to land and the kid starts up again. sigh. Touchdown, time to run.

So we have landed and it's 10:24! I have almost a full hour to make my flight awesome! Oh wait here's the other shoe...we have to circle across the gigantic tarmac known as Chicago O'hare International airport. On the plus side we pass the plane that I am going to frantically try to get onto; gate M7 here I come! So I run out of the plane and through the airport frantically searching for the International terminal, (I don't recommend doing that people look at you very strangely) and finally I run into a security guard who can help me. Turn left at the Dinosaur and take the glass walkway to the train. Lovely people these Chicagoians, I can empathize your feelings Angela, I truly can. So I make it onto the train after besting the t-rex and the hall of horros, and I luckily stumble upon an unsuspecting Korean Airlines employee. He informs me that the flight is leaving but he can call and have it stopped. Miracle!

Well it turns out this man's miracle has a statute of limitations on it, roughly about 5 mins or so I have all the excitement of having succeeded in making my flight despite all the odds, followed by the stomach punch of being told nay you must remain behind brother. So it appears as if Uncle Sam and America are not done with their favorite son yet, so I will stick around a bit more to make nice with the Ol' US of A before becoming a Korean Expat (that makes me sound like a secret agent).

This means that Jessica Ferringer I am here for your birthday, Happy Birthday! you couldn't let me just visit your homeland without being here for your birthday. Well your present is my American deportation. I hope you are happy. :)

So that is the tale of my almost-trip to Korea minus my fights with Evil Air, those jerks owe me hotel fare! Forgetting my diploma, bringing the wrong phone charger with me (sorry keith!) and everything else that went wrong. Tomorrow I'm going to K-town if I have to swim there. Good bye for real this time, enjoy America with out me.

Last Night In the District

So this is it ladies and gentlemen, my last night in America for awhile. I had the pleasure of getting into DC one last time to see off some friends and of course the lovely sights and sounds of the District. I can't believe it finally snowed the day before I ship out, I suppose that I am lucky to see one day with snow, reminds me of New Hampshire, which I suppose is good because Daejeon (pronounced Tay-john) seems to have a similar climate, so perhaps I will get back my cold weather skin. This is my first time attempting a blog and normally the words that I write are for myself, so this will be a new experience for me in more ways than one. So onto the good stuff right?

What is the feeling of a man who is about to leave all of which he knows behind, for a land and culture far different than his own? Apprehension, anxiety, and fear would seem to be the general thoughts that can float through my mind, but I push those away for better thoughts, like puppies and the fact that I will be paid to read Dr. Seuss. So all and all it is not too bad, I get a lovely flight on an airplane, they spared no expense, and I get to live in what most will probably mistake as a walk in closet, but hey at least I chose this. Ultimately I have ante'd up and it's time to toss the dice.

Oh so it seems as if my luck has finally run out and I am going to run into future willie. Let's hope he isn't too pissed off at all the things I've done to him. Good-bye for now, I will attempt to keep this updated so that my life can be a little more accessible for those of you that care to see how I'm doing. Later gators.