Just chillin' out.

My second week in Korea is going quite well I think. I'm still enjoying both the country and my job. I'm really starting to get the hang of things. Everything is just about in order. I have my alien registration card and my bank account. All I need is a cell phone (hand-a-pone)! I made the walk to work on Wednesday, instead of taking the bus. It's just about an hour walk. At least, the way that I took was. Since I didn't really know where I was going, I opted to just follow the bus route there. It was a bit longer route than I needed to take, but it worked out well.

I finally ate out at my first Korean resturant today. Before that, I'd experienced four other "resturants" here. One would be the Tombstone bar, which isn't much different then anything I'd find in Canada. The second place was a Korean resturant at about 2am, where I ate fried chicken and salad. I don't really count that as Korean food. Third, was a "Chinese" resturant with Julie and her Australian boyfriend. Chinese food here is definetely different then Chinese food in Canada. It consisted of black bean rice, black bean noodles, kimchee, and various side dishes. The Korean food that I had today consisted of, what I call, a "pork pancake" (breaded reconstituded pork with spicy sauce), rice, kimchee, and a hot sauce with shrimp. It wasn't much different from the "Chinese food". I went with David, whom I work with. Following that experience, we took off to a stationary store to buy a few pens and a notebook, to keep track of my students in. After that, we went into a coffee shop. It wasn't any different from a coffee shop in Canada; having all of the many varieties of coffee that you can find anywhere. Following that, David and myself went our seperate ways. Not too surprisingly, I found myself at the Tombstone bar. It's where everybody knows my name.

I'm thinking of heading to Fukuoka, Japan, this weekend with a couple of British guys that I know from Tombstone; Matthew and his visiting brother Robert. Both are pretty good guys, so if I go it should be a fun trip. It'd be just for Saturday night, and we'd be staying at a Jim-Jill-Bang/capsule hotel. Jim-Jill-Bang is Korean for bath-house/sauna. I don't feel like explaining what a capsule hotel is. If I do go, I'll just take some pictures and let them do the talking.


During school today, I decided to write a quick review of all my students and their classes. Here it is:

3:00
Peter

-Generally good kid who listens well and puts a fair bit of effort into class.
He has a bit of trouble with phonics, but seems to be getting a better grasp of things everyday.

3:30
June

-Started out rough, but he seems to be improving well. He gets distracted at times, especially in the final 10 minutes of class, but I can notice an improvement just about every day in his ability to recognize letters. What he needs to improve, is his recognition of the sounds that those letters make (i.e. phonics).

4:30
Anna, Matthew, Chris, Denny, Kahn, Lia

-Possibly my most entertaining, and most undisciplined, class.
Anna is quite smart and understands most of the concepts introduced in class. She is also often distracted my whomever she is sitting beside, or by the manga that she likes to read when she doesn’t think that I’m watching her. She is at, or above, the level that she is expected to be at.
Matthew, Anna’s brother, is where he should be as well. He is a smart student who understands the concepts well. He, along with his male classmates, often gets distracted; talking with his peers and laughing at anything that he finds funny.
Chris seems to be where he should be, but like his peers, is often distracted by everything around him.
Denny is in the same boat as the rest; a smart kid, but often distracted.
Kahn is possibly a little more disciplined than his peers. Other than that, it’s the same story.
Lia might possibly have a greater grasp of the English language than the rest of her class does. Like Anna, she likes to read manga. She is shy, when compared to her peers, but almost always knows the answers to my questions.
Overall, an intelligent class that is undisciplined.

5:00
Austin, Jordan

Austin is a smart kid, who is able to understand most concepts. He’s generally well behaved, with a few spurts of silliness.
Jordan is probably behind his level, and should be in a less advanced class than this one. He works at about half the speed of Austin and is often distracted and unwilling to do his work. I have to prod him to finish most tasks.

6:00
Rebecca, Sandy, Rina

A good class.
All girls are quite smart and behave well.
Rebecca has a good understanding of English and is fairly studious; as much as a young adolescent girl in an extra-curricular ESL class can be.
Sandy is extremely smart, and shows it when she’s not distracted by whatever Rebecca and Rina are doing.
Rina has a lesser grasp on English than the other two girls do, but still gives it a good effort.
I’m very impressed with all three girls. They all put a good effort into their studies and I enjoy teaching them.

6:30 (M, W, F)
Tom, Dennis, Betty, Kevin, David

This class is remarkably well behaved.
Tom is a smart little guy, who has a good sense humour and understands the English that he is studying well.
Dennis is a little behind the other students, but is making a great effort to catch up. I’m proud of him.
Betty, like the rest of the class, is quite well behaved and intelligent.
Kevin, who’s quieter than the rest (other than Dennis, maybe) is also very up-to-date on his studies and performs very well.
David, I have not met yet; as he is sick/injured and has not been to class.
An extremely good class.

7:20 (M, W, F)
Ray, Eddie

This class is difficult to control.
Eddie is the more advanced of the two; able to answer most questions well. He is also very hyper, and gets distracted easily.
Ray is in a class that is beyond where his current skills lie, in my opinion. He can do the work, but with difficulty. He’s also constantly distracted, and seems to want to do everything other than learn.

6:30 (Tues, Thurs.)
Sally

Sally is a total sweetie. She’s very attentive, intelligent and she’s willing to try her best. The current book that she is using seems a touch advanced for her. That is because of her inability to express herself, in detail, in English. She’s giving it her best, and I enjoy teaching her.

7:30 (Tues, Thurs.)
Jack, Jake

Jake looks like a nice kid, but looks are deceiving. He’s one of my most hyper students. He’s actually fairly smart and does well, but he’s a distraction to Jack.
Jack, on the other hand, might be finding this class to be a bit too advanced for him. He struggles to keep up, usually just copying from Jake’s book for the answers. Quite hyper.



Of course, the attitudes and actions of every student can vary from day to day. A wonderful student might act like a total tard one day, while my most annoying student can act like a complete angel. They're kids, and I really do enjoy teaching all of them... for the most part!