Just a quick post to update things.  I've recently found a 6 month position at a school here in Chuncheon called Bridgelight.  It's owned by an American/Korean couple and I think it is one of the largest if not the largest private school in Chuncheon so I'm pretty sure it won't close down in the next 6 months. :)  I start in a couple days, I day of meetings and prep and the next, I'm right in the classroom.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  It's been a bit of a bumpy road the last 3 weeks with the closing of my old school and trying to find a good fit with a new one that would take on a 6 month contract to match the length of Kate's. 

The Korean adventure continues into the 2nd half, the home stretch...

Nathan

Some unfortunate news. 

I just found out last night that my hagwon is closing down at the end of February due to insufficient number of students.  This was a bit of a shock as I knew that we had lost a # of students but had no idea that recently the hagwon was right on the verge of closing.  So now, I'm without a job at the end of February.  Another twist, Kate's hagwon and mine shared the cost of our apartment so now, I'm not sure if we're going to have to find a new place or not. Just trying to process our options right now.  Both our jobs were supposed to last until mid August, with a nice chunk of our debt paid off as well.

We have some friends putting out the word to see if there are other jobs to be had.  We're not sure yet what the ideal situation going forward would be for us.  Signing another year contract with a different hagwon would mean that Kate and I are on different length contracts so I don't think that's going to work.  I've heard that you can get shorter length contracts (less than a year) with hagwons but am not sure about this.  Plus, when I asked my boss about the certainty of Kate continuing her employment at her school, he replied that he thought she would be okay.  'Course, I thought I was okay too!  We don't want the situation where I sign another contract till mid August and then in 2 months, Kate's school closes down and we have to try and find her a 2-3month job.
 
If you are the praying type, if you could pray about this, it would be appreciated. 

Thanks,
Nathan

So here it is.  February...oh...something or other, almost the 10th which would mark 6 months of our Korean experience.  Kate has been as consistent as a sunrise with blogging while I'm (if I may continue a weather analogy) more like an eclipse: rare, and when it does come, you can barely look at it.  Now, perhaps I'm being unduly harsh on myself but the fact remains that Kate has done 99% of the brilliant writing and picture taking on here.  So here is my attempt to push that percentage to 98.  In the form of a ramble...

So as Kate, I've been teaching, eating, sleeping, breathing Korea for a time now, a time where we've mostly adjusted to the smells, the sounds, the behaviors, (though I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the driving) that make up this part of God's green earth.  It's been good and bad at times, hot and cold, dry and wet....(wow...riveting, I know. It gets....better? (shrug))

I've been thinking about attitude lately and I've thought that your attitude can influence a lot of your experiences in life.  You can be in the most perfect place for you in the world and it can be hell, conversely, you can be in a very harsh, unforgiving, difficult place and if your attitude is right, it can be tolerable and maybe even enjoyable.  That has been a challenge for me and maybe for some of you out there in reader-land. 

My work has introduced tests and report cards now, pretty much in line with what Kate's being doing since day 1 at her job: marks and report cards designed to keep parents happy and students butts in the academy and little else in my opinion.  Ah, the business of education.  Can't say too much though, since that business is paying my salary.  And down our debt.  But you still question things...

Had a wee bout of food poisoning from a poor meal selection on my part.  Korean version of a pre-packaged chicken nugget that looked more like beef.  "Mechanically-separated" would definitely be in the fine print of the English version of this package.  Anyway, that, unfortunately, put an end to any plans we had for the Lunar New Year we've just had.  Last time I think I had food poisoning was over 10 years ago.  This time was a milder form, (I'll spare the details) but still not pleasant.  Almost 100% now.  The thought of food is almost not at all revolting. 

Ah, to teach students that want to be there, that respond well to your activities, that positively want to jump out of their chairs to continue a conversation or a dialogue, to volunteer first, to have them understand that time in the foreign teacher's class does not equal texting and video gaming time...ah to have all these things in one class would be ESL teacher heaven I think....  Of course, some would say you need to create the atmosphere you want in your class.  And I agree.  For me though, you try everything and sometimes you need something else.  Some kind of magical aura to totally erase your classroom and transform it to an English speaking paradise that students will flock to from miles around.  So right now, I'm looking for a Korean cornfield to plow under thinking, "If I build it, they will speak!" 

To end this entry I leave you with the fun English on a small Korean dessert.  It needs no setup beyond knowing that in Korean, the symbol for "l" and "r" is the same.

peace,
Nathan

P.S. Though the actual taste makes me think they did choose the right spelling...Not good.
P.S.S. Tried to work in a "Field of Dreams' reference.  Not sure if totally worked but I just recently watched it again.  Awesome.  On an agricultural note, the farmer background in me noticed that they referred to Kevin Costner plowing his corn under when actually he was mowing it with a haybine, thank you very much!  Yeesh.  I mean, yeesh!

Not much has been written, as of yet, about teaching--which is, in fact, what we are doing in this country.   

Teaching, or not teaching?  That is the question.  My hope is that the students have not regressed.  One thing is certain, my English has deteriorated.  I've started talking in broken, halting phrases and the pace has slowed considerably.  Nate asks me questions, and I grunt under my breath. 

But the students.  How are they faring?  I have one class of very active boys.  One perches on the edge of his chair and rocks it, incessantly, back and forth.  On the forward tilt he crashes into the imbalanced desk and on the backward tilt, he hits the brick wall.  It's been six months.  I've tried to occupy him with other things--art supplies and bingo games and candy...still, he rocks, his little, wiry frame burning 500 calories an hour.  He is, apparently, an exceptional athlete--if only I was his track coach and not his English teacher!  I've threatened to glue the chairs to the floor. He thinks this is funny but improbable. 

My Mom sent me Teacher, by Sylvia Ashton-Warner to help me with ideas.  One of the theories in the book is "the key vocabulary." The idea is that kids learn language most easily when it is the language that is most meaningful to them.  Ashton-Warner, who worked as an ESL teacher in Australia during the integration of white and Maori classrooms, found that the language that is most meaningful and memorable is linked to primal instincts: sex and fear.  For example, kids will learn words like kiss and ghost almost instantly--these are "one look words"--words that come from the child's life or imagination and can be learned--spelling and meaning--in one look.  During the North/South Korea tensions, a number of my students drew pictures of war, guns, fighting and monsters, so we labeled these pictures.  My class of active, little boy know exactly how to spell many horrific words now--but they are learning English, and hopefully, processing some of their emotional tension.

When we learned body parts, I decided to have one class draw and label a person, with each student drawing one part.  Of course, the girls wanted to draw a pretty girl and the boys, well, they envisioned a monster.  

So after the girls drew some pretty eyes and perfect hair, one of the boys added monster ears.  But the girls turned the monster ears into angel wings!