This is stupid...

So work has been going well for these past few weeks, and by that I mean things haven't necessarily improved but it is bothering me less. My kids range from completely terrible and out of control to sweet and adorable, I wish that there was a happy middle ground but what can I do. Today I have decided to try a new course of action with my worst class, normally they are just wild and I am run ragged trying to get them to listen to me. I have tried begging, pleading, screaming, shouting, ignoring, really anything to get my little ones to pay attention. Really I am just upset with the class because I know that they cannot learn anything when they are running around and screaming, now if anyone has any ideas on how to make a bunch of 6 year olds pay attention in a foreign language class, I am definitely all ears. What I have decided to do is save the few kids who are trying to learn, or if not save them at least make so the other kids don't pick on them and make them cry.
In other news, I have stumbled upon a global english pandemic. No one in the world understands how to use the words lose/loose and it has finally driven the last of my sanity away from me. I don't know when people started talking about loosing their wives, but I am pretty sure their lack of spelling and complete misunderstanding of a simple concept convinced their loved ones to seek greener pastures. That's all for now as I should go to bed before I pass out. Hope things are swell Stateside, have a great Memorial day and what not...

Will "wishes there were stars in Daejeon" Dunkel

At long last!

It is really interesting that so much of the music that I love has been influenced by the British. I suppose I can finally forgive them for torching Washington in 1812. Sigh, that was a fun grudge while it lasted. Anyways, I have been largely derelict from my responsibilities of writing and blogging, I imagine I will be able to wrangle out a few posts sooner or later, I just always feel tired. I expect that working with kids for 10 hours a day is the reason. It has been an up and down month here in the future, and I have been reluctant to relive all of the crap that I through even thought I understand that this is an electronic tome that will ultimately exclude me from getting that job as US Senator, or President, but I suppose I will shelve those lofty dreams for now and instead make some lemonade.

I am excited and rather nervous I have begun to take single private lessons in learning Korean but I do not know if it will work and I might sign up for a real comprehensive class Ala college style. Also I am trying out some Tae Kwan Do this week which will probably end with me tearing my MCL. I hope not, I like walking. I just finished a prank on one of my students with another one of them. I wonder if that is ethical? I need a haircut and am slightly freaked out that I might end up with hair like this. I still need to upload pictures of my wee ones, really of all of my kids so you can see how cute and horrible they can be. I also need to put up all my Seoul shots and retell the adventure, I will leave a video that should be enticing enough to hold you over, I hope at least. Before I get to that video though I have been thinking about what my job entails and how it is really a unique situation. I teach about 70 kids through various classes which isn't too drastic as I am sure there are many that teach such a high volume of kids, but I was thinking about the age groups that I teach. I teach everything from 3-4 year old to 13 year olds, which as I am sure you are aware is a large range of kids. The number of personality traits that you have to deal with is quite staggering to me, as well as the completely varied teaching skills that are required for each age group. Couple this fact with the knowledge that I have high expectations with very little training and next to no authority and I find myself constantly up against the ropes. Really I am armed only with my wits, dexterity (because these kids are quick to run), youth. I understand fully that this is not a job for really anyone that is older than 30, for many reasons but realistically the physical requirements and mental fortitude to be living in chaos 24/7 make it impossible for a settled individual. I am probably way off base with my comments and really someone with as little experience as I have should offer more restraint in appraisals but its a quickfire world of instant analysis and that's my thought for the moment.

I have a problem, and I think you all have noticed by now, I ramble. I am rarely coherent and lack any sense of style, which is problematic as I attempt to pen a novel, but at least I have a half-assed effort. Anyways, if anyone can think of jobs like mine I would be all ears, but I will leave you with a video that will not fail to make you wonder just what has Will gotten himself into. Now without further ado here is Seoul being nuked, (a thrilling exhibit in the War Museum of Seoul)




Will out

p.s. I've been listening to a lot of dj danger mouse which I recommend to any that likes mixed up musics,

p.p.s. They took Jasper away from me! I suppose some birds have feathers that are to colorful to cage...sigh

Irony is not lost on Korea...

So today is Teacher's day! Essentially it is a day that is to celebrate those that help to cultivate and grow minds into something more than puddles of gray matter. Oddly enough I am included in this group of people and I do not really know what I think about it. Today was the worst day I have had in Korea since I've been here and that it falls on a day that is supposed to praise and honor those like myself makes me want to laugh. Well cry really but, like baseball, there is no crying in Korea.

It all started today when I overslept, and missed half of a hockey game I had really wanted to see. I know its a frivolous thing, but you cling to odd things when placed in a foreign environment. I raced to work and was playing with my kindy kids, who have really grown on me, I mean little Taylor spent all day pointing to various circles and gleefully telling me what they were, and Angel (I have two angels go figure) keeping the other kids focused on what I was saying it really seemed like things would be OK. I left that class feeling good and went to my last kindergarten class of the day. Now this class is really hit or miss, they have added a child who no one can keep control of and that upsets pretty much all the other children but hey he's got the won. I struggle to begin the class when I explain to them that the sentence they have been chanting "I learned to nap" makes basically no sense, and that it should be "I need to take a nap". Something that I wholeheartedly agree with, but hey I just do what they tell me...er sort of. I managed to get through the class with only minimal trouble, and not wanting to bash my head in, so I considered it a good day. Turns out I was headed for a big drop off. I get upstairs and turn on the hockey game (the Internet can do amazing things) just in time to see my beloved Bruins get knocked out in OT of game 7. Once again I know its only a sport, but anything that is familiar...so I am kinda down as it starts to rain, so I decide I might as well grade some of my students journals, this is a mixed bag. I am mostly disappointed because 99% of my students didn't try at all, and it makes me feel like I suck as a teacher, but one little girl Bunnie, wrote this pretty little piece about how she wants to go to India to help out the poor people, so I am touched. Shortly after reading that note my supervisor Michelle asks if she can meet with me for a minute. Knowing full well that she only wants to talk to me to discuss my failings as a teacher I am psyched.

Turns out it is worse than I had imagined. It appears that I am an awful teacher. I don't connect with the students on any level to make them more engaged and when I I do get my kids to interact with me, they go home and tell their parents that I am picking on them. I just can't freakin' win. I was told last month that I need to make things more fun and be more animated turns out that all of my attempts to be more friendly and nice to my kids has made them think I hate them and want to ostracize them. When I talk to Michelle about this, she explains to me that it is their second language and that their are lot of cultural misunderstandings that I am walking into. Which is fine and to be expected, except that when I ask what I can do to make it better and to be able to reach these kids, I get nothing except to say that she is embarrassed. She's embarrassed because she doesn't want to talk to these upset parents anymore about how I am not making their kids feel welcomed. Now this might be understandable to me with some of my more troublesome classes except she isn't talking about the ones that I know I have difficulty with she is talking about the class that I thought was my best one. I need to make the class more fun without in anyway interacting with the children in a manner that won't make anyone feel bad. I am out of ideas. I try to let them do their own thing, I have tried being strict, lenient, apathetic really all of it, and I have not garnered any change in the way my kids perceive the class. Also I have been told that I spend too much time grading their work, which is laughable because I only correct one paragraph a week from them, which is the only material that I receive from them. I am told that I need to do be more involved and that I should not grade or correct their work. Now I am confused by this because I don't receive anything else from them and have no way to be aware of if they are learning or not without checking their damned work! I guess this is another cultural understanding that I am running headfirst into, I assumed as a teacher I am supposed to um what is the word...teach! Maybe not. All I know is the meeting lasted for a half an hour, with me continually getting frustrated and saddened by my state of affairs. So I get out of the meeting and it is time to teach my next 6 classes, yay.

Well I would like to say that those classes went off well, and that after showing signs of a weakness my kids would be good, I mean it was Teacher's day after all. I would like to say that, but I would be lying. My kids noticed I was down and kept pushing to see if I would break. I didn't. Thanks in large part to a few of my students taking pity on me, thank you Nancy, Jasmine, Jessica, Molly, Bunnie, and Jane. I am pretty sure I would've been more despondent had it not been for their beautiful gestures on teachers day. So I will hold out hope for the future, but I hope I don't have many more of these. It's hard on the soul these days.

Will "down but not out" Dunkel

p.s. My apologies for not posting my Seoul adventure and other events that have happened in the past 2 weeks I have been struggling to make sense of things.

p.p.s. I got to name my second kid this week. A tallish boy who studied America. I named him Jasper. I think it fits...

Children's Day musings

So yesterday was Children's day in Korea. A whole day dedicated to kids having fun and doing whatever they want. This is a really funny thing to witness because I remember growing up and asking when Children's day was, and being told it happened everyday of the year. At the time I didn't agree or really understand, and nowadays I will still not agree even if I do understand. I always thought kids got a tough rap, until I came to Korea and understand that we give them hard time for a reason. For instance we try to instill in them that bad words or curses are not to be used, as an adult we understand that cursing has a time and a place. My kids don't understand why I don't want them to curse, they have the mouths of little sailors, and I swear I didn't know these words when I was their age. Then again who knows what age they are over here surely I don't. Anyways now that I am off topic I just wanted to say that this lovely land that I am in continues to amaze me in the daily goings.

This week has been great because one of my favorite classes is back in session, these kids are middle schoolers and they just crack me up. They re really some of the funniest kids I have ever met, and every class is really special. We were discussing beauty in class, and they had the idea to use beauty as an insult, IE. "Ray is the most beautiful person in the world", and what makes a person beautiful? "Money and their face." Good to know shallowness reigns supreme here in D-town.

Well I don't know what I was intending to do with this post but I should end it before I get more confused. I am going to be putting up pictures of my Seoul adventure tonight or tomorrow if I can. Other than that have a great day, enjoy the Caps and the Bruins for me. Until later pasties.

Will out

Happy Birthday

So I am off to Seoul for the weekend and I must say I am excited. What will one of the largest cities on the planet hold for me? I feel like the bar has been removed and the sky's the limit, maybe dog soup, live octopus, stopping a North Korean invasion, really I feel like anything can happen. All of this is happening for me on Buddhas birthday, which I think is a pretty sweet gift. Ok I've gotta run, Seoul waits for no man.

Will "Seoul baby!" out