Trick Eye & Ice Museum

I went to the Trick Eye Museum, and by extension the Ice Museum, with Anne and Rebecca a few weeks back. Located in young and hip Hongdae area, the days were still quite cold and the winter drear was at a maximum for me. The Trick Eye Museum mashed together great scenery with the joys of taking and looking at pictures of ourselves, and the visit gave me some much needed "Vitamin D." I was carefree and high on art, though I was still plenty awkward as I tried to coordinate my body into a good pose for each scene.

School Feelings

Teaching is my teaching weakness. It's an inside joke with myself as I talk with other teachers and listen to their stories. But as I sit here and wrap up and bow tie twenty-nine mini Twix bars for my after school kids tomorrow, I'm thinking what a cool teacher I am. It is my secret plan to have the kids associate chocolate with English time, and I know that they'll be thrilled to get the little notes with my signature scrawled next to a heart.

It's been a tough two weeks for me at school. Mostly I've lately been struggling with my role in the teaching classroom, especially at my second school. Co-teaching is something that takes work; it's a partnership and I'm not sure everyone is meant to work well together. Throwback, but I must say how thankful I am for my time in the Dino Room. It was a subtle dynamic that made things work there, for me at least. Thank you Maggie, Steve, Preston, and Karli. 

Here are some shots of the "English Notebooks" I made a while back for my after school classes, along with the bow-tied treats. Paper and bookmaking heals all: 

Yellow ribbons for Sewol ::

Thoughts on the captain and crew:

I think that human mistake after mistake compounded into what is now one hundred seventy dead people with still over one hundred missing. I think that the people of authority on the Sewol made decisions and orders that failed to protect the lives on board. I think the surviving crew members had to decide to leave a sinking sink with three hundred some people, most of them high school kids, trapped inside. When I feel how I feel about that cold, hard fact, I know that the surviving crew are feeling that ten fold in the darkest way possible. And the reactions that are trying to find the "good" in their personal destruction and arrests and hold their actions as forseeably intentional are useless. 

It's difficult not feel betrayed as the numbers of the dead and missing tower over the heads of Captain Lee Joon Seok and the surviving crew of the Sewol. How could they abandon all those people? Why didn't they do more? Where is their honor? However, I reject the notion that they survived in the place of one of those who are missing, those who are dead. I think the decisions and actions made in crucial moments culminated into tragic realities where they were not trapped. They had a responsibility and they made the wrong choices, and South Korea is devastated. But I have to believe, until I hear from the mouths of the crew or of proof otherwise, that they did what they thought was best under the circumstances. Which was, tearfully, regrettably, furiously, not near good enough. 

South Korea & The Sewol Ferry Sinking

A friend from home sent me a message making sure I was okay, and I think it's important to acknowledge the tremendous sorrow and fear of the number of people that are still missing and of the number of people that have died in the Sewol Ferry disaster. 

I was at the home of one of my Korean teacher friends, excited to eat dinner with her and her daughter and mother, when she turned on the TV and asked me if I'd heard about it. The footage of the ship on its side -- it is a disrupting image. A ship doesn't look like that. We stood there and I slowly began to comprehend the facts. At that time, there were three counted dead, which I was understanding as, "Okay, three dead." My friend was saying how earlier in the afternoon the number was good at zero dead. But then, she explained what the other numbers in the counter box in the top right-hand side of screen meant. Then that most of the people on board were from an Ansan high school. High schoolers -- please let there be a gigantic jump in the number survived, please.  

GEPIK Workshop, Korean Education, & Change

The GEPIK Teachers' Workshop was a good series of lectures and meet-and-greets. It wasn't that I didn't think it wouldn't be beneficial, but the training addressed some topics that surprised me, including the over-demanding school system my students are a part of. I liked finding out that I am working under an organization that is aware of the problems and brought up rational points that go against the Korean status quo of more and more school time, more study time, and high test scores. That was the most important thing I took away from the training.

Held at the KSA Training Center in the middle of nowhere, somewhere near Suwon, one of the training rules specifically prohibited leaving the grounds, which, I mean, there was no where to go. Driving up the road to the main building, the bus passed a barn full of cows. But it was a beautiful location with a hiking trail, tennis court, and full-adventure arena with zip lines and climbing walls. I was disappointed we didn't partake in a team building zip line workshop, but it was lovely walking around with all the blossoms.

Badger Blogging Blitz Daily Questions Collection

Here is a collection of the "Daily Questions" from the 2014 Badger Blogging Blitz, where five fellow University of Wisconsin - Madison alums and myself blogged for a week about our lives living and teaching in South Korea. I've updated the "Day Four" answers, and here is a preview of the questions.

1. What has been your most surreal experience in Korea so far?
2. What would you have told yourself before you got on the plane in Chicago, given what you know now? 
3. How does your school experience at the age of your students compare to that of your Korean students?
4. If you had the opportunity to change 5 things at your school, what would they be and why?
5. What teaching methods have you found to be the most effective with your students (What do they respond to?)?
6. Do you think you're making an impact on your student's English ability? 
7. What have you learned about yourself through this experience?
8. What has been the most difficult aspect of Korean life to get used to?
9. What's your favorite part of Korean culture/society? 
10. Have you been able or wanted to keep up on current events in the U.S. - new movies, your favorite TV shows, news, etc.? Also, how do those things differ in Korea? What topics are covered in the news? Are people there as interested in TV/movies? 
11. Do you always try all the foods offered? Have you made an effort to try a variety of new foods or do you tend to stick to the things you've found and like?
12. What plans do you have when the yearlong contract is up? Will you renew? Why or why not?