Dan - Winter Camp

One of the extracurricular things public English teachers in Korea must partake in is an English Camp. These are usually done during the summer and winter and can last from 2 days to 2 weeks. They usually incorporate some sort of theme to teach, and the associated vocabulary. They're supposed to be more of a fun group of lessons. Movies, projects and games are the norn instead of lectures. Common themes include superhero camps, cooking camps, movie camps and even pop culture themes like Harry Potter or Shrek camps (Good excuses to watch the movies, I guess). This is all a part of your contract and does not require extra pay (unless you work overtime). Thankfully the camps usually last for a shorter period each time (a few hours) and you are given a wide berth of discretion in what material you can teach.

For 죽전's winter camp, I wanted the kids to create something they will remember for a while and that can be shown to many different people. I toyed around with the ideas of filming an actual movie with acting, but there was a simpler and more unique solution. Stop Motion video.

By Dan. Age 25.

(Click to see the video)

The group was 17 mixed 5th and 6th graders. Half boys, half girls. I had six hours to have the kids make something better than that. No problem. I set the bar low.

We started with a history of stop motion films. We watched a few short example clips of stop motion from hand-drawn frames...

 

To live action...

 

To working with props...

To clay animation, segueing into a segment about how most stop motion movies are made.

 


By this point the kids were mesmerized. I showed them an example from King Kong that gave even further insight into how old this technique is. (Teachers Tip: Cut the video at the 2 minute mark. These kids did NOT like the T-Rex having his jaw pulled off.)

Now it was time for them to create. I had several categories they could choose from, ranging from short story to sports to memories to travel to bucket lists. They had ten minutes to brainstorm in their groups of 2-3 as many ideas as they could foster. Once they had finished that, it was time for voting on their favorite. At the end they all had one idea to make a 45 second to 60 second video out of.

Storyboarding came next. I introduced the concept of storyboarding to the kids, making many references to it being "Like a comic book of the movie". This Monsters INC storyboard comparison video really helped solidify the concept into their heads. Then it was time to create.

The epic poop saga. The two girls in red above were the masterminds behind this.

Day one ended with the storyboards completed and art assets being worked on. I told them to bring in their phones for cameras for the next day, and planned to have 3 cell phones and cameras for backup. 

Day two started with a review of art assets. I showed them stop motion techniques: Perspective, cutting out major characters so they can easily be moved around, adapting backgrounds, etc. We went over the materials bought for the class: Buttons, googly eyes, balloons (Which were a bad idea, the kids never stopped playing with them), yarn, pipe cleaners, and of course sketchbooks and colored pencils. The students refreshed my memory as to where they were, what idea they had, and what they needed to work on. They had their roadmap and they were ready to create.

The rules were simple.

1: At least one English word must be in the video.

2: It must be around 45-60 seconds. This amounted to 60-80 pictures.

(Group: Super Hero)

(Group: Cookie)

(Group: Babo - Stupid in Korean)

(Group: Super Hero)

(Group: Americano)

(Group: Babo)

(Group Americano in front, Superhero in back)

(Group: SC Poop).

As they finished I had brought my laptop in to transfer pictures to. Before they shot I verified each phone to make sure it could connect to my laptop (some of them didn't, but we had backup phones). I used Sony Vegas to splice the videos together, but I'm sure a free program like Windows Movie Maker would work just as well for a simple project like this. The process of transferring, rotating the pictures, copying them into the movie maker and shrinking them down took 2-3 minutes per group. Rendering took about 15 minutes, so I had a few stop motion films they could watch on youtube while we waited.

For those who finished early I had them make a poster of their short film. If we had more time I would have allowed them to make another, shorter (15 second) stop motion but we ran over as is. The first group finished a half hour before closing and the last group came in right at the buzzer. We handed out snacks and watched our videos. Afterwards the students put their heads down and voted on the best movie. SC Poop's masterpiece won by a landslide, for which they got extra candy.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. Aside from me putting the video clips together, the work was all on their own. From art to filming, it was entirely them with us being minimal support. 

Here is the final product they all created. Enjoy!

Catt - Christmas Time in Korea

Happy Holidays one and all!

Or Merry Christmas.  

Really, its whatever you prefer.  

Anywho, its that time of year again.  When the temperatures drop, the snow starts to fall and everyone is in an excellent mood everywhere you go.  That is, unless you're in Korea.  

Let me explain, Christmas in Korea is MUCH different than in the US.  So far, our temps are still in the mid 40's and no snow has accumulated (yet) and people seem somewhat sour about Christmas, unless you have a partner.  Christmas in Korea is a lot like Valentine's Day in the US, its a couple's holiday.  Its a day to celebrate being in love.  On Christmas day stores will be open, restaurants will be open and it will pretty much be business as usual.  Well, except for school, schools will be closed fortunately.  (Working on Thanksgiving was hard enough, I can't imagine having to work on Christmas too!)

Gift exchange is a little bit different too.  From what I understand, it is not appropriate to exchange gifts with those of the opposite sex, unless you're dating.  It could be taken the wrong way otherwise.  I've heard this from several people who have been in Korea for more than 1 year.  So I guess that mean less spending on my part, cause all my co-teachers are male!  haha

So for Christmas Dan and I decided to surround ourselves with as many friends as possible.  We went out for noraebang on Christmas Eve (Korean style karaoke) and out for a Western buffet lunch on Christmas Day.  Both were lovely!  We had fun singing Christmas carols and stuffing our faces with REAL turkey.  (Real turkey is extremely hard to find here and when found is hell-a expensive.)  

Check out our photos below!  

Love and miss you all!!!  <3

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!  :-D

The Christmas tree in the lobby of the hotel we ate lunch at.

The beautiful view from the table we ate Christmas lunch at.

The buffet!  YUMMY!!!

Is it really a holiday celebration without some bubbly?!  :-)

  

Dan & Catt - You know you're an English teacher in South Korea if/when...

We stole most of this post from a friend on Facebook.  But it was just too great not to share!!!  :-)

Love and miss you all!!!  <3  

• Your first week at your new job you use students with the appropriate school uniforms as your signal to get off the bus at the right stop
• Every electronic device in your school has a Samsung or LG label
• Your stove has a Samsung or LG label.
• Your fridge has a Samsung of LG label.
• Your washing machine has a Samsung or LG label.
• Your school's air conditioning unit has a Samsung or LG label.
• You start to wonder if you have a Samsung or LG label.
• Your students can be motivated to do anything if candies are a reward, specifically chocolate
• Lunch will always include rice and kimchi and finding tentacles and/or bones in your soup no longer surprises you.
• Choking on the tiny bones while eating fish adds texture to the meal.
• Calling in sick is strongly discouraged because it demonstrates a lack of diligence, however sleeping at your desk is completely acceptable (for your Korean co-workers at least)
• Kakao is great method of communication with friends and family
• All the "white" people in your suburb are either English teachers or Mormon missionaries
• Your students have never been taught to cover their mouths when sneezing and/or coughing.
• Even when you are not at school you talk slowly, use exaggerated pronunciation and hand motions, and pause after each sentence expecting people to repeat after you.
• Fire drills nearly give you a heart attack because you didn't understand the announcement 5 minutes prior warning of the upcoming drill
• There's soju and other alcoholic beverages in staff fridge.
• You've learned not to ask what your food is. 
• You wasted space in your suitcase packing dress shoes you never wear 
• Your greatest embarrassment is forgetting to change your shoes when you leave work and you find yourself on the bus home still wearing your indoor slippers
• You no longer listen when you hear adults use your name - more often than not your colleagues are talking about you, not to you.
• Scooters run a red light and narrowly miss you everyday and you barely notice them.
• You wonder if the name on your passport should be changed to "Waygook" (foreigner) because that's often what people call you
• You have a choice whether to use western toilets or squatty potties in the bathroom. The used T.P. does not get flushed and there is no paper towel to dry your hands
• It's not weird when you see the two male coteacher friends holding hands to show their friendship.
• Your commute to work includes passing 8 hagwons (private academies), 3 Taekwondo studios, 1 Home Plus, 5 GS25 convenient stores, 2 Angel-in-us coffee shops, 10 Korean barbecue restaurants, 2 pool halls, 1 Lotteria, 3 SK gas stations, multiple old women selling fresh produce on the sidewalk, 28 cell phone stores, and your bus driver nearly hitting 1 McDonalds delivery boy on a scooter
• Your decision to walk to school for exercise means risking being turned into a pancake by a motorized vehicle....WHILE WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK
• Doors in your school and apartment slide open and shut
• You find there's nothing wrong with the students sharpening their pencils with a box cutter like an inmate fashioning a shank.
• Rock, Paper, Scissors games might include dozens of players at once and are likely to cause bruises and/or draw blood.
• Your students ask you your blood type, relationship status, religion and age on a regular basis. They never remember.
• Accidentally wearing the same color shirt as your male co-teacher gets students excited because they think you are dating.
• There are official policies and dates for when the air con and heat are allowed to be operated. If extreme temperatures occur outside these approved dates, too bad. Therefore you wear a coat and gloves inside
• Essay/speaking contest submissions might include writings stating the reasons Dokdo belongs to South Korea and not Japan.
• Essay/speaking contest submissions might include this teenager's opinion of why all Japanese should die.
• 99% of your students wear glasses, even if they have no visual impairment
• The day your ARC (Alien Residency Card) arrived was the happiest day of your life because it allowed you to get a bank account (and therefore a paycheck), a cell phone, home internet, etc.
• Your female co-workers look as if they are about to go to a photo shoot and your male co-workers dress as if they will be climbing Mt. Everest after work
• Your hair or skin have ever been touched by strangers to see if they are "natural"
• The students have matching PE sweatsuits.
• You have ever had trouble typing lessons plans after lunch due to chopstick cramps.
• Walking down the hall means getting whiplash from bowing repeatedly 
• Students repeatedly say "I love you teacher, you are beautiful" to try and get out of doing work.
• You have ridden the bus with a monk multiple times.
• You start to say "Nice-uh!" instead of "nice!".
• You nod and say "neh" whenever someone speaks to you in Korean.
• When November rolls around you learn the word "Chooah". You hear your coteachers repeat it constantly over the next few months.
• You are ranked by your coworkers in every way imaginable. 
• You're always able to join a group of other foreigners to go drinking every weekend. You often do.
• Surprise schedule changes are no longer a surprise. 
• You have your own student fan club.
• You go from finding ajummas entertaining to finding them fucking terrifying. 
• You feel like you are defined by American media. 
• In the winter all you want to do is crawl in your heated bed and mess around on your laptop.
• The highlight of your day is running staff messages on coolmessenger through Google Translate.
• The next time anyone not in Korea mentions North Korea and whatever Scooby Doo antics they're up to you have a desire to punch them in the face through the phone/screen.
• You never assume what toppings will be on your pizza.
• Homesickness is (mostly) cured by a Costco trip.
• Your apartment location can be described by the nearest Paris Baguette and/or convenience store.

Dan - Our school lunches!

Here are some pictures of our school lunches this week. Short and sweet!

clockwise from upper left: Tteokbokki, bean sprouts, kimchi, spicy beef stew, rice, fish pasty.

 Clockwise from upper left: Chicken w/noodles and vegetables, fried chicken, kimchi, balled rice soup?, rice.

 Clockwise from upper left: No idea, almond bread, tangerine juice, bibimbap (my favorite!), tofu soup.

 Clockwise from upper left: Yogurt drink, beef (usually with mustard, but I said no), veggies with vinegar, spicy tofu soup, rice

Clockwise from upper left: Kimchi, potato shavings w/onion, bean sprouts, spicy hot dog and tofu soup, banana, rice.

Dan - Happy Suneung Day! (Not!)

Hey all. Doing well, doing great. Last Thursday, the 7th of November, I came to school an hour late. As did everyone else in my school. As did most everyone in the workplace in the entire country. Police were on standby, taxi drivers were legally required to provide free rides to a certain subset of citizen, and airplane flight paths were diverted over certain areas of the city. Even the the opening of the stock market was delayed. Why?

A bunch of high schoolers taking a test.

It's no surprise that Koreans are very stressed people. They have one of the highest suicide rates in the world, after all. Cultural pressure to succeed in life is enormous here. Much of the stress in a young Korean's life can be attributed to their third year of high school in early November. That is when they take the 대학수학능력시험 test, also known as the College Scholastic Ability Test or  Suneung (수능). This eight-hour test (8:30am to 5:00 pm) tests the students on the following

• Korean reading, writing and speaking (90 minutes)
• Mathmetics (100 minutes)
• Type A: Math 1, Basic calculus and Statistics
• Type B: Math 1, Math 2, Geometry and Vector, Integral calculus and Statistics
• English reading, writing and speaking (70 minutes)
• Social Studies (select 2)
• Ethics & Thought, Ethics for Daily Life (62 minutes)
• Korean History, World History, East Asian History
• Korean Geography, World Geography
• Law and Politics, Economics, Society and Culture
• Sciences
• Physics 1, Chemistry 1, Biology 1, Earth Science 1
• Physics 2, Chemistry 2, Biology 2, Earth Science 2
• Vocational Education
• Agriculture (Understanding of Agriculture, Techniques in Basic Agriculture), Industry (Introduction to Industry, Basic Drafting), Commerce and Information (Commercial Economy, Principles of Accounting), Marine and Shipping (General Oceanography, Fishery and Shipping Information Processing), Household affairs and Business (Human Development, General Computers)
• Foreign language (40 minutes)
• Arabic, Chinese, Chinese Classics, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese (choose 1)

The questions are created by a team of 696 individuals, half of whom are college professors and the other half are high school teachers. They are under a strict NDA and are paid $300 a day for several weeks. Questions are checked and double checked to make sure they are suitable. Now, in America we have the ACT or SAT. Both are very important tests, though not as detailed and intense. However, a high ACT score does not always guarantee entry into a good university, and vice versa. Here in Korea, the CSAT is the number one indicator of which university you will be accepted to. Around 700,000 take the test every year, and around half of them will get a good enough score to be accepted in what is considered a "good" university. For this reason many Koreans call the CSAT the chance to make or break one's future. It will influence their education choices, their job prospects and even marriage. It is the single most important event in a teenager's educational career.

You could say preparation for this test begins at elementary school. No kidding. Every single one of my students knows exactly what the Suneung is. Parents and family plan their middle school and high school years, moving closer to the good schools and more importantly, good hagwons (private after-schools). These students leave their public schools at around 3pm, in which they turn right around and go to hagwons. There are over 70,000 hagwons in Korea at this time, 47% of those are high school specific. There is a korean law stipulating all hagwons must close at 10pm, though this is often ignored and many study until 11 or midnight each day. Raids on hagwons are a common occurrence to those who break the law, teaching past required times. Those who cannot afford hagwons go to gongbubangs, which are quiet study rooms where silence and privacy are taken extremely seriously.

The silver lining (though not much of one in my opinion) is how supportive the country is of these students. As mentioned, all businesses start an hour late as to clear up congestion as the students are headed towards the exam room. Even the Seoul Stock Exchange opens up later in the day. The electric companies place 4,000 workers on standby in case of a power outage.Taxi drivers are legally required to give free rides and police escorts are on standby to help get the students towards the test center. Female teachers are not allowed to wear high heels in the testing center or wear perfume. The entrance to the testing centers is filled with members of the community screaming and shouting in encouragement  And of course, the temples are flooded by the parents and family of those praying for their child or family member's success.

I had a good discussion with my coteacher about the importance of this test in Korean culture. It started with me saying I felt it was good that the country was so supportive of the students on test day (regardless of whether the pressure should be there in the first place), but quickly delved into the history of the test and why Korea places so much importance on it. It was interesting to hear her, as an educator in Korea, so critical of the way things are and how she wishes she could change more.

It's an interesting contrast here. In America, I feel the government places too little significance on education. With the misguided disaster that was NCLB, funding woes and cultural impact of being educated. Over here in Korea, there's too much of an importance on education. Like America, there are still the same problems with instructional education and teaching to the test. But there are added problems; students are literally killing themselves over expectations in these grades. The life of the high schooler isn't filled with mischief, sports, movies, dating or having fun. From the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep, it's study study study. Does it work? Education in Korea is rated as one of the highest. But there are other countries rated higher (Finland, for one) without the same societal pressures. Even if it does work, is the cost still worth it?

'If you sleep three hours a day, you may get into a top 'SKY university;' If you sleep fours hours each day, you may get into another university; if you sleep five or more hours each day, especially in your last year of high school, forget getting into any university.' - Korean Proverb

The second silver lining is that after the Suneung, the stress of one's life is greatly lifted. University, by comparison, is extremely low pressure. The students will likely never study that hard again. A high score means a good school, and a good school almost guarantees a good job (Preferably with Samsung or LG).

It's interesting to see the societal changes in a topic I'm very familiar with. Once more, which is better? Too much significance on education? Or not enough?

---

Here's a decent documentary on the subject. All the good information is in the first half, the second is kinda just an emotional repeat of the topic at hand.
http://vimeo.com/24642646

Catt – ESL Teaching

I’ve been in Korea now for about 9 weeks, as I mentioned in the last post.  I’ve been teaching for about 7 of those.  (I’ve lost count of the exact time, sorry.)  I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts and perceptions on teaching English in South Korea.  These are simply personal experiences and to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Let me start with my thoughts on desk warming.  It’s a great theory.  Getting paid to sit around all day.  Getting paid to read, watch Youtube videos, play on your cell phone or even sleep.  Maybe getting some lesson planning done.  All in all, a great situation, unless you’re faced with it for 20+ hours a week.  Yes, per week.  Most of the time it’s quite nice, a little break between classes, time to edit a lesson plan if something isn’t working, time to breathe.

Don’t get me wrong, desk warming is far from the worst thing that could happen.  I might have too many classes or never get planning time.  It’s just frustrating when I’d rather be teaching and interacting with others.  My classroom is away from all the main building, so I’m by myself all day, except when I have a class.  It’s nice to get away sometimes, but mostly I crave interaction with others, so this can be difficult for me.

Another thing about teaching in Korea…sometimes I don’t actually teach.  Weird right?  I’m not talking about desk warming again, I’m talking about feeling like just an English entertainer. 

The students, and the other teachers for that matter, don't expect much out of me.  I'm supposed to teach English but when I try to actually teach them conversational English like I'm supposed to, their eyes glaze over and I get little to no participation.  (I only teach conversational English, not grammar.  Korean English teachers are actually experts on English grammar because they have studied it for years.  Where as I just know it because I've grown up speaking it.)  However, when I introduce a game they love it.  I mean, who wouldn't?  But I'm really struggling with how to teach them English through just games.  (Any other ESL teachers out there struggling with this?  I could use some advice!)  

Something that is both a positive and a negative is educational background levels of ESL teachers.  You must have at least a Bachelor's degree to even be considered for the EPIK program.  That degree though can be in anything, from math, to English, to education, to communications, to history, etc.  Now, if your degree isn't in education, you are required to complete a TEFL course.  (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)  I didn't have to do one of those fortunately and neither did Dan.  But I wonder, how well does that course prepare you for teaching children?  Does it cover the years of studying that I did on child development?  Does it talk about the multiple ways that children learn?  EPIK does have a pre-orientation course you must complete that includes these things, but only briefly.  They hardly skim the surface of teaching strategies and philosophies.  I just wonder how well prepared others felt for this job.  And would you go back and do it again if you could?  (Comment below!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!)      

Please understand, I LOVE that I have a teaching job.  And I love that I have a job period, I'm not trying to be ungrateful.  I am just simply sharing the not-so-glamourous side to teaching abroad.  I mean, every job has its ups and downs.  And I must say, I really am valued here for just being me.  While educational background is important, it is not all that they look at.  They look to me like they would an expert on English.  It's kind of crazy.  They ask "why?" a lot of the time when I tell them that something should be different grammatically, and I honestly don't know why, that's just the way it is!  lol  

Let me end this on a positive note - 

- I love teaching.
- I love my students.
- I love my co-workers.
- I have a great co-teacher/manager who really goes out of her way to help me.  
- Korea is an amazing opportunity and I am SO lucky to be here.
- Korean life is wonderful.
- I really am doing splendidly!  


Love and miss you all!  Talk to you later!  <3             

Catt – Normalcy

If I’m counting correctly, this week makes about 8 weeks that I’ve been in Korea.  I have to say that overall it’s been a nice time too.

Things in my life are settling into a sort of normalcy.  I teach Monday through Friday and visit/see Dan on weekends.  Thursday evenings I have Korean class with some of my new friends and other nights I just relax at home, usually recovering from the previous weekend, lol.  I plan on signing up for dance classes at the gym across the street from me but just haven’t managed to go inquire about it yet.  That would then fill up my Monday and Wednesday evenings.  

Living on my own again has been a big adjustment, mostly in the cooking department.  I don’t like to cook for one, so I haven’t been doing it much.  I made mac ‘n cheese last night though, which was a big deal.  Haha  My most substantial meal of the day comes from my school lunches, which is generally really good.  Occasionally I find out that I’m eating something a little strange, like eel, so I’ve stopped asking what everything is and I just enjoy it. 

Teaching is going pretty well for the most part.  I of course have good days and bad.  Bad days are usually days that the kids are particularly unruly or sleeping a lot.  Good days are days that the kids are super engaged and really asking questions and showing interest in the lessons.  (On a good day I’ve got about 75-80% of the class engaged in the lesson.)  I’ve been doing a 3 week unit on America lately which most of my classes have enjoyed. I talk about American geography, facts, places to visit, American high school life, holidays and customs.  They loved hearing about American high school life and how different it is from high schools here.  

I must admit though, teaching ESL in Korea hasn’t been as fulfilling as I thought it would be.  I guess I had some idealized image in my head of being able to make a real difference in these kids lives, be able to teach them a language that would really broaden and open up their world.  But honestly, I sometimes just feel like an English speaking monkey brought here to full up another 50 min class period with games.  I think that’s a whole other story though, one best left for a different blog post. 

So yes, I’m sorry I haven’t been updating the blog enough lately, I guess that falling into a routine makes you forget some things, you know?  I’ll make it a goal to post once a week or so, sound good? 

Love and miss you all!  Talk to you later!!!  <3