This week was a pretty good week. Monday I worked my 12 hours. The poor students don’t want to be there any more than I do, so I try to make the class really fun for them, but usually they just want to socialize with their friends, and socializing in English isn’t their idea of a good time. I even created a dialogue about Justin Bieber, and it still didn’t work. I guess I should try a Korean pop star this week.
Tuesday was my birthday. I got to work and there was a present on my desk from the other English teachers, and a bowl of 미역국 (traditional birthday seaweed soup). I’m not a huge fan of seaweed soup, but it was my birthday and my coworker had made it especially for me, so I ate the whole bowl. Then right before lunch they brought out a cake, and everyone sang to me and I got to blow out some candles. My students kept singing to me in the hallway too, it was fun. After school I went out to dinner with one of my co-workers and we commiserated about being non-SDA in an SDA school. After dinner I went home to enjoy a peaceful night of solitude. Then I heard a knock on my door. It was the teacher who is in charge of the foreign staff. He brought me another cake and enough toilet paper to last me through the end of my contract. He told me that he was really thankful that I don’t complain and cause them a lot of trouble like the other foreign teachers do. A sincere compliment is so much better than any material gift (even 50 rolls of toilet paper).
On Wednesday I got to school, and one of my students had bought me a Spongebob calendar for my birthday. She’s a really sweet student. She’s in the lowest level, but she always studies and works hard to improve her English. I even walk home with her sometimes after school. There are a lot of annoying little things about my job, but I really like the students. Even the annoying one that does nothing but cause trouble in my classroom, I like (although I like him a lot more the weeks that the other foreign teachers have to teach him and he just comes to torture me during break time).
Wednesday nights now, I tutor a girl in French. It makes me feel really stupid. I studied French for 5 years, and in my barely two years in Korea, my Korean has now surpassed my French. I guess it’s true that if you don’t use it you lose it. I’m really glad that I’m helping this girl to learn, because it helps me to review, and to relearn what I have forgotten during the years that my French has been lying dormant. This way when I apply to grad school I can honestly say that I am still proficient in French.
My weekend was pretty uneventful. I went to Seoul and wandered around the Electronics market with a friend. I wanted to buy a region free DVD player, because all my DVDs are American and they won’t play on Korean DVD players. So we went to Yongsan electronic market because my friend had bought her DVD player there. However, apparently region free DVD players are illegal…the store owner told me that the police were cracking down yesterday, so they were “sold out.” Sad. Why is it illegal to pay money for a device to allow me to watch my legally obtained DVDs…it’s frustrating. I guess I’ll just have to keep using my computer.
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