I do apologise for the lack of posts. For those that don’t know, I actually started another blog at the start of the year because I realised my time here in SK was winding down and while I have loved sharing my moments on here, I realised I didn’t want to keep this blog after my time here finished (I always need closure on things, but that’s just me).

Plus, it seems, my life is heading out in a different direction to the one I’ve been living these past few years. New things are on the horizon, wonderful and exciting plans that I hope I’ll still be able to share with you. But I don’t want to record them on here. This blog was intended to document my time here in South Korea and while I now I still have a good 8 months left, I’m finding it harder and harder to keep two blogs up to date.

So I’ve had to make a decision…and I think I’m going to finish writing on here and just keep the new blog now. If you wish to join me over there, please come on over. I’ll still be sharing some things about my last few months in Korea on there–and, of course, my life in general.

Thank you for sharing the last few years of my life with me…and I hope you’ll continue to do so over at A Cup of Chai.

See you over there!

xo

For the last two days I’ve been in a mood–a very bad mood–and no matter what I do to try to shake it off, it’s sticking to me like freshly chewed gum and I’m kinda getting tired of fighting it off.

Yesterday marked the start of my school’s mid-year Speaking tests. It’s the first time they’ve had them here and so, of course, I was asked to put together speaking test questions and the marking criteria. I prepped early, typed up about 20 questions for students to practice and even spent one lesson with them going over the sentence structure for each question (as in…I pretty much gave them the answer, all they had to do was remember the sentence and fill in the blanks with their own personal details).

That was about 3 weeks ago.

Fast forward to yesterday.

Now, imagine someone banging their head against a really, really well-built brick wall that’s been surrounded by strong steel, and you can begin to get a feeling of what my day was like.

Of what it’s been like since.

I’ve had kids come in and mime me their answers. I’ve had them answer me completely in Korean. I’ve had them look at me blankly when I’ve asked them ‘What’s your name?‘  or give me a completely unrelated answer to the question…still in Korean.

I had one student today who just shook her head ‘no’ to all four questions I asked her.

It’s a freakin’ SPEAKING test! How am I supposed to grade you when you don’t even speak???

To say that this has been one of the most depressing weeks of my life so far is a gross understatement.

To top it off–and really, this by far is what is making my blood pressure boil–I get told today that no student is ALLOWED to get a grade below 60%.

60-FREAKING-PER-CENT!

I’d say about 80% of the students I’ve tested so far (in the 8th grade, anyway) have either 1. not answered me at all. 2. Used body language instead of speaking or 3. Have answered me in Korean.

…and I’m supposed to give them at least a 60% grade?

Who says the South Korean Education system isn’t screwed up? Cos that shit right there just goes to prove that they care more about looking good on the record than they do about actually trying to push these kids to improve themselves.

Once a year they host this semi-large, week-long festival here in Gangneung. J and I have been to it nearly every year since I’ve been here but this year, I managed to take some shots of some of the things to see and do there.

The festival itself stems from some kind of sacrificial ceremony Koreans had traditionally performed in order to gain good health and good harvest from their god. These days–while the ritual is still performed as part of the festival ceremony–the event itself is more of a chance for Koreans and foreigners to have some fun, experience some “traditional” Korean activities and enjoy the sights and atmosphere of Gangneung City.

Since this would be our Danoe Festival, J and I ended up going there twice. The stalls at the festival run on both sides of the river in the middle of Gangneung so there was plenty of walking to be done and the combination of the hot and humid weather and the hundreds of people that came during the long weekend guaranteed that both J and I didn’t last more than an hour there both days we went.

Still, it was fun and I’m glad we got to experience it one last time.

(Click on image to take you to the actual ad)

And here’s another one on the same page…

Really?  REALLY?

Someone took out an ad to request a date for a wedding?

I don’t know why this even surprises me since someone once told me that some brides and grooms hire out people to act as their friends on their wedding day just so when the time came to take photographs, you’d have a lot of people standing there, smiling right behind you. Never mind that you probably won’t be able to recall who they were a week later when you finally get copies of your wedding photos.

Any opinions out there on this?

But my students always comment on this. And they make this comment to every other foreigner they see.

If you don’t know it yet already, South Korea  is kinda hung up on appearances. I once went to a subway station down South where I saw this:

“Small Face/ Lovely Breast”

I laughed the first time I read this and commented to my then boyfriend at the time the craziness of the ad. I was young, naive and was still in the process of realising just how big the world of plastic surgery was here.

It wasn’t until a few months later when my then room-mate went out and came back a few hours later with decidedly bigger–and more bruised–eyes that it really sunk in how much women here covet things that others don’t even think about. I remembered she danced around the apartment, a large smile on her lips and kept asking me if she looked prettier. All the while trying to bat her newly “enlarged” eyes at me. It was kind of scary, actually.

In time the bruising died down and she was able to start wearing eye shadow to enhance her new eyes, but to be honest, she still looked the same to me. Those two little folds on top really didn’t do much.

She told me that having the surgery would make her look prettier. That guys would find her more attractive. That it would better her chances of finding her soul mate. I thought, what good is that? If they end up having kids, those kids won’t inherit her surgically enhanced eyes. They’ll get exactly what their parents were born with and then the cycle will start all over again.

This article ran today on CNN online about a 12 year old South Korean girl having those  folds surgically placed on her eyelids so that she can be pretty too.

Her mother, Jang Hyu-hee, says her daughter didn’t ask for the surgery.

“I’m having her do it,” says Jang, “because I think it’ll help her. This is a society where you have to be pretty to get ahead. She’s my only daughter.”

It’s amazing that they’re getting that young. That these parents are actually encouraging this kind of desire. I know there are those all around the world who are fascinated with plastic surgery and looking beautiful. Perfect. Pretty.

But really, to encourage unnecessary surgery in someone this young?

How far would you go for beauty?

Offer them just one tiny one as a prize for answering a question in class and they all clamour to get your attention, their palms waving in your face just enough so that you actually start to feel threatened by it.

Take my classes here for example. My 8th grade classes, I mean.

I had three 8th grade classes to teach today and I had to give out their Speaking Test Question sheet so they could practice for the next three weeks (yeah, they get 3 weeks to practice for one speaking test).  So anyway, for one of my classes, I spent most of the lesson going through each question that I might ask them and I noticed that as soon as I got halfway through the first question, about 1/3 of the class started to get that glazed look in their eyes. Sure enough, by the time I hit the second question, a couple of them had put their heads down on their desk.

Some of you are probably thinking, “so what? that just means your lessons are boring.” Well, okay, I have to admit that going through test questions isn’t really high on my list of exciting activities to do in class, but considering they had spent the previous lesson playing group games and that these speaking tests will actually count for a percentage of their grades, you’d think they’d be willing to pay a little bit of attention.

But apparently not.

However, once I started asking questions and offering candy as a prize…guess who’s heads perked right up?

Mind you, it’s not like this for every class.  The rest of my classes today worked well without any kind of bribery involved. One class–a 7th grade class–actually pulled out their notebooks and started taking notes without me having to ask them. It’s mostly my 8th graders that make me want to bang my head against the wall. Well, to be more exact, about four 8th grade classes that are so demotivated, I literally get a headache every time I have them. They just don’t respond to anything that doesn’t involve watching music video clips, candy or some other kind of edible prize.

This speaking test with them should be very interesting.

Do any other teachers out there have classes like this? If you do, how do you motivate them?

I realise it’s been a week since I’ve blogged anything on here and for that I apologise. This week was just exceptionally hectic for me and for some reason I’ve been more tired than normal (I went to bed at 8pm last night!). Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s my busy schedule at school, maybe it’s all the other extracurricular activities I do after work. Maybe it’s all of the above. I don’t know.

Last night I quickly put together these mini pizza muffins (again) for dinner because I’ve been craving them ( my mouth literally started watering as soon as I started spooning the tomato sauce into the dough cups). I was almost tempted to ask J to order me some pizza from one of the stores then I remembered how much better homemade tasted. Thank fully the dough recipe I use takes no longer than 10 minutes of resting time, otherwise I really would have had to order out. I was that tired.

Once again I’m happy the weekend is here, although I have to use this time to prepare the materials for that Reading workshop I’ll be doing in June, but hopefully I’ll still have some time to do some crafting and writing. J’s sister also invited us to their housewarming but I’m not sure if I can make it. These days I feel like my weekends go by really quickly and I never have time to just chill and let my body completely rest before another hectic week starts up again.

Here’s the thing about J’s sister (and I need to get this out cos it’s been bugging me): she got married recently and before that she was apparently in a lot of debt and had been working at a spa treatment boutique to pay for it and to also, you know, get by. So when the time came for her to get married, she quit her job and is now staying at home. Doing what? I’m not sure. Her husband doesn’t earn much, but get this…J’s dad gives her an allowance of about 1K a month. WTF? Now, she’s capable of working and she’s not pregnant yet, so I don’t get why she stays at home. I understand expectant mothers who quit their jobs to focus on the baby. I totally get that and I actually support it if that’s what they want. But she’s not pregnant and seems like there’s no plan to try to have a baby yet. And yet, she stays home when she could be helping her husband earn some money for their life together as well as pay off the debt they created from their wedding. (FYI, when J quit his job at the end of last year, there was no offer of 1K a month from his father).

I don’t know. I know I should just not care, after all it’s their life. It just bugs me because I’m so the opposite of that. It bugs me that I’m now related to this person that does… nothing. I would understand if she came from a rich family or her husband was well off, but they’re not. I would understand if she was incapable of working, but she’s not.

About two weeks ago they celebrated Parents’ Day here (which is Mother’s and Father’s Day rolled into one) so J and his sister organised to have a dinner with the four of us plus their parents. Which was fine. So we ate and then J’s mother kind of said during the dinner that J’s dad would be paying, which I thought was kind of slack considering it was Parents’ Day. So after the dinner, J and I decided we would offer to pay for it. Now here’s the thing. This was the first dinner together as a family for J’s sister and her husband. They’re older than both J and I. J and I have paid for countless of lunches and dinners before. But did they even offer to pay for this dinner? Did they even offer to split the bill in half with us? Nope. Did they even thank us afterwards for footing the bill? Ha!

So I commented about this to J on the drive home and he remarked that it was probably because they now had a lot of debt to pay for their wedding.  Hmmm…and yet I know for a fact that she has the money to be able to go out with her friends to the movies, get her hair done and buy new clothes.

I know there are people like this around the world–and J tells me that some Korean women often aspire to get married just so they won’t have to work anymore. But I also know of many, many Korean women who work hard, who love their careers and who would never limit their capabilities by having a man support them. I’ve been–and still am–surrounded by strong, independent women in my own life who work hard and are able to hold themselves as equal to men in this world. I was brought up to believe in being independent. I was taught the value of hard work and earning your place in this world.

I just have no idea how to handle meeting–and having someone in my life–who doesn’t have any of these qualities. It just blows my mind that there are people out there who would rather waste space and time than contribute to the better good of their society.

I mean…for goodness sakes, she could at least do some charity work or study…or do something worthwhile to justify not working.

Okay.

*breathes out*

Rant over. Sorry about that.

Hope you guys have a lovely weekend!

Sorry for the irregular posts. This week has been crazy busy for me (when hasn’t it been?) and I’m sorry to say that I had to neglect posting on here for awhile in order to get some things done by the scheduled deadlines.

Did I mention before that I was going to be doing a reading workshop for some of the middle school teachers here in this city I live in? No? Well, I am. June 18th to be exact and the outline for the workshop is due tomorrow so I had to spend most of my days this week finalising the program.  Once that was over, I had to start with lesson planning for my 7th and 8th graders next week and that took some time. I still haven’t completely finished but at least I’m not rushing like crazy anymore trying to find a suitable topic to teach them.

So now…it’s Friday afternoon. I’m happy the weekend is here but it won’t really be much of a weekend of rest for me since I have Saturday classes tomorrow (Field trip to the lake!) and a thousand and one things to finish off for Paper, Lace & Confetti (mainly our Complete Weddding Guide) and contracts to write up. Plus we’ve got some new things planned for the company (which we’ll reveal all in due time) so a lot of my time has been busy with that side of the business.

Which is not to say that I haven’t done anything creative at all this week. If you want to see what I’ve been doing-creative wise–please check out my other blog A cup of Chai. It’d be nice to see you over there.

Now I’m off to plan date night. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Yesterday–which was Children’s Day here in SK and therefore a public holiday–J and I went here. It is just past Donghae and just before Mureung Valley. It’s a two-building residence that is open for the public to use for a small donation. J and I ended up donating about $5 altogether and spent about four hours relaxing inside the smaller building. The larger house has three rooms that you can use to relax, eat in, sleep or do whatever you want, while the smaller house (to the right) is an open one room area with large open windows.

 I came here once before with some adult students I had been teaching and had been absolutely amazed that such a place was available for anyone to use–virtually for free!  The place is well heated, especially during these cooler months, and provides a great view of the pretty natural environment outside. Inside they provide an assortment of tea and coffee for you to use at your leisure, along with some notebooks, magazines and books (the magazines and books were in Korean so I couldn’t really read those).

J and I brought along a picnic basket with some snacks to enjoy and we literally just lounged around inside, enjoying the free tea and coffee. It was a nice way to spend half the day since the weather outside wasn’t that great and it gave J and I a chance to just hang out (away from our own apartment), enjoy a new area and talk.

   After we finished our picnic we took a quick look around the main house. It’s basically a larger version of the smaller one we had our picnic in with more rooms and a larger kitchen area. There’s also a lot more things in there (as you can probably see from the pictures) for you to check out.

It was a lovely day spent and I loved being able to do something different with my husband. We’ve got another four-day long weekend starting tomorrow so we’re trying to think of what we should do. J’s opting for Everland (since we can put down our expenses there on his work account) but I don’t really want to travel for four hours just to visit a theme park I’ve already been to.

Any ideas?

Remember how I said Pecans are so expensive here? Well, I decided to mix some cashew nuts into the pie just to balance out the ratio between nuts and the rest of the filling. Turns out both nuts work quite well together (since the cashew doesn’t have a strong flavour in the first place). The only thing I would change here is the actual pie crust. I threw this together in the space of 5 minutes after I decided I had all the ingredients I needed to make this pie but I didn’t have enough time to roll the dough out properly so it ended up thicker than normal.  Still, I do love crusts so I don’t mind having more than enough to eat in one slice of pie!