I got wind this morning that I have won the UVic Philosophy Dept.'s award for Outstanding MA Thesis of 2007. Joanne mentioned this to our coteachers, and the next minute Olivia was on the phone calling the vice-principle to tell him the news.
Things operate very differently here.
There is a judo tournament November 10th. Although I've put on a little weight, it's not going to be a problem because instead of fighting -73kg I'm fighting -75kg. If only I could figure out how to throw the competitive black belts, who seem to know what techniques I'm attempting even before I do.
I think the extra kilogram or two is muscle (Joanne says my abs are bigger), but whatever the case, I do have a slight problem in that my new pants don't really fit anymore.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Weekend
I just finished updating the playlist on my mp3 player - in preparation for a trip tomorrow after school. After our classes and teacher workshop, we'll be heading to Gwangju, where Alden will be writing the GRE exam.
The plan is to take the bus, and then stay in a "love motel". Apparently these motels are used for any illicit activity - basically anything you would not want your neighbour to know about (i.e. extra-marital activity?). Foreigners tend to stay in these motels - they're cheap and conveniently located. I guess we'll see how it is!
Saturday morning is Alden's exam. The GRE is a standardized exam like the SAT, but it's necessary to apply to grad school in the States, as opposed to an undergrad program. There will be two verbal and two quantitative (high school math) sections. We've been having some math coaching sessions; I hope my student does well!
The past few weeks have also been quite busy. I went to a lantern festival in Jinju a couple weeks ago. Mina's friend has a taxi, so we made the 2 hour trip in his comfy ride. I also met Mina's friend Shawna. I felt very comfortable around Shawna - we have similar interests and she's super nice. I then found out she's from Langley, so I think that explains things a bit. It seems like every other Canadian we've met so far is from Ontario!
Here is a picture of the pome- granate lanterns at the festival. There must have been over 200 different lanterns, including a panda with some bamboo, a totem pole, four people doing b-boy moves and people in traditional Korean dress making rice cakes. Many of the lanterns moved (robots of some sort). It was very impressive! We finished off the evening with a snack of roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. So delicious.
The plan is to take the bus, and then stay in a "love motel". Apparently these motels are used for any illicit activity - basically anything you would not want your neighbour to know about (i.e. extra-marital activity?). Foreigners tend to stay in these motels - they're cheap and conveniently located. I guess we'll see how it is!
Saturday morning is Alden's exam. The GRE is a standardized exam like the SAT, but it's necessary to apply to grad school in the States, as opposed to an undergrad program. There will be two verbal and two quantitative (high school math) sections. We've been having some math coaching sessions; I hope my student does well!
The past few weeks have also been quite busy. I went to a lantern festival in Jinju a couple weeks ago. Mina's friend has a taxi, so we made the 2 hour trip in his comfy ride. I also met Mina's friend Shawna. I felt very comfortable around Shawna - we have similar interests and she's super nice. I then found out she's from Langley, so I think that explains things a bit. It seems like every other Canadian we've met so far is from Ontario!
Here is a picture of the pome- granate lanterns at the festival. There must have been over 200 different lanterns, including a panda with some bamboo, a totem pole, four people doing b-boy moves and people in traditional Korean dress making rice cakes. Many of the lanterns moved (robots of some sort). It was very impressive! We finished off the evening with a snack of roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. So delicious.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Taekwondo Week 2
The kids were noticeably more friendly tonight at Taekwondo. I think they're getting used to the idea of having me in their class. Several of the boys ran up to me to say "hi" when I arrived, and two of the girls made of point of talking to me throughout the class.
It was quite the workout tonight - we were practicing our kicks by lining up and then kicking our way around the room two at a time. After five minutes of kicking, I was pretty tired and waiting for the activity to change. Eventually, I realized that this would, in fact, be our only activity of the night. Near the end of the session, and fifty minutes of kicking later, I was completely exhausted. However, this wasn't the end of class. Kwan Jang Nim (Master) lined us up and we raced from one end of the room to the other, by frog hopping and then by walking crouched low to the ground. And to top it off, we did squats! I will be very surprised if I am able to walk to and from school tomorrow without being in a lot of pain.
After class, I took the Taekwondo bus home again. Kwan Jang Nim dropped four of us off at the Hai Tai Apartments. As I was walking toward my building, one of the boys yelled something. I couldn't understand (Joanne: Hangeumal motayo - Korean language I don't speak), so one of the boys managed to translate to "Let's play!" We made a stop at the swing set. I basically went through my entire Korean vocabulary with them. They acted impressed, though I know that at least one of them has a much better grasp of English than I do of Korean. We managed to communicate that I live on the 10th floor, that I work at English Town and that I have a boyfriend (one boy sang the Wedding March to ask whether or not we were married). The boys were smiling and having a great time while we were chatting. Actually, the whole class seemed to be having fun while we were at Taekwondo. It's so nice to see all the kids so happy to just be participating and hanging out with friends. I'm really looking forward to going again tomorrow!
It was quite the workout tonight - we were practicing our kicks by lining up and then kicking our way around the room two at a time. After five minutes of kicking, I was pretty tired and waiting for the activity to change. Eventually, I realized that this would, in fact, be our only activity of the night. Near the end of the session, and fifty minutes of kicking later, I was completely exhausted. However, this wasn't the end of class. Kwan Jang Nim (Master) lined us up and we raced from one end of the room to the other, by frog hopping and then by walking crouched low to the ground. And to top it off, we did squats! I will be very surprised if I am able to walk to and from school tomorrow without being in a lot of pain.
After class, I took the Taekwondo bus home again. Kwan Jang Nim dropped four of us off at the Hai Tai Apartments. As I was walking toward my building, one of the boys yelled something. I couldn't understand (Joanne: Hangeumal motayo - Korean language I don't speak), so one of the boys managed to translate to "Let's play!" We made a stop at the swing set. I basically went through my entire Korean vocabulary with them. They acted impressed, though I know that at least one of them has a much better grasp of English than I do of Korean. We managed to communicate that I live on the 10th floor, that I work at English Town and that I have a boyfriend (one boy sang the Wedding March to ask whether or not we were married). The boys were smiling and having a great time while we were chatting. Actually, the whole class seemed to be having fun while we were at Taekwondo. It's so nice to see all the kids so happy to just be participating and hanging out with friends. I'm really looking forward to going again tomorrow!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Taekwondo
I have sustained my first Taekwondo injury. It's nothing major, but I spilled some blood. However, the actual Taekwondo classes have been great fun so far! The class consists of me and about 20 munchkins. 
Well, there are four or five high school boys, but the rest of the class is in elementary school. Practices are five nights a week, so the students are amazingly good. Most of them have black belts or are within one or two levels of a black belt (red or a combo of black and red).
There is one girl in the class that speaks English very well (she also attends an English school every day), and has basically become my friend and translator. She has a black/red belt, and can do the splits. She's in grade 5. Basically, she's amazing.
The rest of the kids are curious about me, but we haven't gotten past the words hello, hi, tall and crazy. Every Korean kid seems to know the word crazy, and it's quite an insult here. They use it on each other with regularity. But that's another story...
Well, there are four or five high school boys, but the rest of the class is in elementary school. Practices are five nights a week, so the students are amazingly good. Most of them have black belts or are within one or two levels of a black belt (red or a combo of black and red).There is one girl in the class that speaks English very well (she also attends an English school every day), and has basically become my friend and translator. She has a black/red belt, and can do the splits. She's in grade 5. Basically, she's amazing.
The rest of the kids are curious about me, but we haven't gotten past the words hello, hi, tall and crazy. Every Korean kid seems to know the word crazy, and it's quite an insult here. They use it on each other with regularity. But that's another story...
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Photos of Japan
I have posted photos of our trip to Japan on my Flickr site (click on the next photo in the "photostream" to see the others). Sorry there haven't been any stories yet... they are coming. For now, here are a few select 
pho
to
s. 
pho
to
s. 
No swimming?
On our way to hike in Jogyesan Provincial Park yesterday, we passed a dam and a huge dammed lake. It was breathtakingly beautiful (I realized later that I probably found it especially serene due to the lack of clear cuts on the surrounding mountains). As we were driving by, I tried to ask about going swimming in the lake. ChiHo was having trouble understanding what I was getting at; both he and EunJu couldn't understand why I would possibly want to go swimming in a lake - it's too deep! I was informed that Korean people like swimming in the ocean (where they can touch the bottom), but that a lake is much too deep. End of discussion.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
You know you're a white person in Korea when...
little children open car doors to shout "Hell-lo!" as you walk down the street.
Cleaning Time
It is 1pm right now, which is the official time to clean the school. There are no school janitors here; instead, the kids spend half an hour every day cleaning the entire school (classrooms, hallways, teacher's rooms and bathrooms). Normally, I would welcome anyone into my place of work that would be willing to clean it for me, but in this case... well... To start with, the kids use the same cloths every day. Each kid has one cloth, which they use for absolutely every surface they touch. I've seen kids clean the floor, and then come over to my desk and wipe it down. Super.
Also, there is a stain on my desk that has been there since the day I got here (six weeks ago). It's a fairly visible sticky spot. I see the kids wipe it every day, but not once has it been scrubbed - so it's still there.
To summarize, my work area is not getting any cleaner, in fact, it's probably dirtied by the cleaning effort. Ah well, I guess that's just how things are done here.
Also, there is a stain on my desk that has been there since the day I got here (six weeks ago). It's a fairly visible sticky spot. I see the kids wipe it every day, but not once has it been scrubbed - so it's still there.
To summarize, my work area is not getting any cleaner, in fact, it's probably dirtied by the cleaning effort. Ah well, I guess that's just how things are done here.
Monday, October 1, 2007
National Television
At 6:30 last night we were sitting around, about to start making dinner, when Mark called and invited us over for dinner/filming. We only met Mark on Saturday night at a birthday gathering at the local club, Elle Lui, so this was a bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one nonetheless. He offered to come by and pick us up, so we were outside and waiting by the Hai Tai Market within a few minutes.
When we arrived at his apartment (on the 15th floor of a high rise, in a sea of high rise apartment buildings), a cameraman, a high-up boss and a Korean friend were waiting. It turns out that Mark's job is pretty high-profile - he is one of the first teachers to teach at the schools on the islands near Yeosu. The island kids would not normally get any English instruction, but a large company is sponsoring Mark... so of course the company wants some publicity. Thus, a tv special on Mark's life - doing the laundry, cooking dinner, entertaining guests (us), preparing his lesson plans, talking to his family on the internet, etc.
Our grand television entrance started out by knocking at the door and being welcomed in the apartment. Hugs all around, despite the fact that we had known each other exactly 24 hours. The cameraman then wanted to interview me about where I was from, how I felt about the dinner party, how long I had known Mark... I was prompted to say "I've known Mark for about a year now, and we're very good friends". When I said I was from Canada, they all exclaimed "Oh, you're from the same country". As soon as he stopped filming, I turned to Mark to ask him: "You're from Canada too? Where are you from?"
It all turned out very well. The dinner Mark cooked was very delicious* ("magisoyo", which I had to say on camera), and it was fun to hang out with the group.
I also found out that this will be broadcast nationally on the Korean equivalent of the CBC - I've been asked to keep my co-workers posted on the date and time of the broadcast. I'm going to be "very famous"!
*"very delicious" is the common phrase used to describe any meal. It applies even if the food is barely edible. Of course, the dinner was actually very good, but there is no way to distinguish between barely edible and very good, because everything is described as "very delicious".
When we arrived at his apartment (on the 15th floor of a high rise, in a sea of high rise apartment buildings), a cameraman, a high-up boss and a Korean friend were waiting. It turns out that Mark's job is pretty high-profile - he is one of the first teachers to teach at the schools on the islands near Yeosu. The island kids would not normally get any English instruction, but a large company is sponsoring Mark... so of course the company wants some publicity. Thus, a tv special on Mark's life - doing the laundry, cooking dinner, entertaining guests (us), preparing his lesson plans, talking to his family on the internet, etc.
Our grand television entrance started out by knocking at the door and being welcomed in the apartment. Hugs all around, despite the fact that we had known each other exactly 24 hours. The cameraman then wanted to interview me about where I was from, how I felt about the dinner party, how long I had known Mark... I was prompted to say "I've known Mark for about a year now, and we're very good friends". When I said I was from Canada, they all exclaimed "Oh, you're from the same country". As soon as he stopped filming, I turned to Mark to ask him: "You're from Canada too? Where are you from?"
It all turned out very well. The dinner Mark cooked was very delicious* ("magisoyo", which I had to say on camera), and it was fun to hang out with the group.
I also found out that this will be broadcast nationally on the Korean equivalent of the CBC - I've been asked to keep my co-workers posted on the date and time of the broadcast. I'm going to be "very famous"!
*"very delicious" is the common phrase used to describe any meal. It applies even if the food is barely edible. Of course, the dinner was actually very good, but there is no way to distinguish between barely edible and very good, because everything is described as "very delicious".
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