Winter English Camp in South Korea: Camp #2, Day 1 — My Teaching Nightmare Becomes Reality: Zombie Student Attack!!!

Yesterday was day 1 of my second two week English winter camp.  Unlike the previous two week camp that wrapped up last Friday, where there were blue skies every day, yesterday morning was gloomy and overcast.

I wondered if there was any kind of portentous meaning in the gray skies and tried to shake it off as I walked into my office.  I turned on my computer, printed out a few things, and then made photocopies of stuff I needed for day.

To give you an idea of what I was copying (especially if you’ve never done a camp in Korea) here is a list of what I prepared.

1.  Classroom English Rules

2.  Camp Schedule with dates and times.

3.  A handout from the book “Ugly Koreans, Ugly Americans” about asking personal questions and taboos in introductions situations.

4. A writing assessment sheet with 3 simple questions.  I wanted the guys to spend 5 minutes per question, and write a minimum of five sentences or more per question, so I could see what their writing skills were like (one of the two major goals of the camp is to learn how to write a paragraph in English).

After organizing all the stuff I needed for my first day of camp and the two fifty minute periods I would be teaching I headed to the first grader (Koreans use elementary school grade language for high school grade names, don’t ask why–I don’t know) building where my classroom was.

I usually head to my classroom during a camp at least one hour early to prep the room and check that all the teaching technology is in working order.  I turn on the touch screen TV (I’d rather they had a power point projector and big screen, but oh well), and turn on the computer and check that both are working.  I also check that there’s an Internet connection.  All of these things in the past have for one reason or another not been working and if I don’t check with at least an hour to try and fix whatever problems might be happening I risk having to come up with teaching alternatives really really fast (it’s happened in the past, and it’s NOT fun).  OH, I also do these checks EVERY DAY–you can’t rely on the fact that something was working yesterday cause it might not be today.

I open the curtains to let in whatever natural light there is outside (unlike last week, not much) because I think it impacts student mood and energy levels.  If the only light in the room is artificial I think energy levels are lower.

I then check to see if the heat is on.  During the past two weeks of my first camp the heat had already been on, and I didn’t have to worry about walking the 100 feet or so back to the main building on the high school campus to the administration office to ask for it to be turned on.  Yesterday, however, I had to do so.

Having opened the curtains and gotten the heat turned on I then turned to prepping my white boards.  Depending on what I’m teaching, and whether I’ll do the materials more than once in a year, I usually make a power point file so that I don’t have to write things out while teaching.  For the camp, though, I didn’t have a power point made up of all the things I’d be putting on the white boards so I spent a few minutes writing it up.  Oh, and I cleaned the white boards.  It’s nicer for me to write on a clean white board, and I think nicer for the guys to be able to read off of too.

Looking at the above picture I forgot to mention my two ice breaking activities.  The first involves the use of balloons and speaking.  The second is getting the students to make ’self-introduction posters.’  Last semester my school gave me a small budget to purchase color pencils and I had grabbed those for the guys to use in the making of their posters.  Not only do I have to do an ice breaker with the incoming freshmen who have never been in the high school before, but I also believe there’s a need for the guys to participate in an ice breaker with each other because they come from different middle schools all over the place.

I’ve written out a description of the balloon ice breaking activity that I use in my post called, English Camps in South Korea – A Guideline for Foreign English Teachers, so if you’re curious you can check it out there.  As for the self-introduction posters . . . this is what I do.

I brainstorm a list of topics with the guys.  Usually name, age, hobbies, favorites, dreams/wishes, and family are the topics that come up.  I do not teach them new language because I believe this is an activity where it’s better for them to be using language they already know.  I can then see how fast and easily they produce language they’ve learned, and how accurately they produce it too.  It takes pressure off of them to learn, and gives them time to adjust to the new environment, and of course me, the ‘alien’ English teacher.  While some students have a natural creative ability many students in Korea lack experience as language learners doing creative activities because there is a general antipathy on the part of Korean teachers, and surprisingly many students too, towards anything that they deem not to be learning tasks that are directly related to mastering test content.  As a result of this Korean students often have a really hard time beginning creative projects/tasks and completing them in what foreign teachers would consider a ‘normal’ period of time, so it’s a good idea to have a model of the self-introduction poster up on the white board, or even a hard copy that you’ve made yourself.  I like to change the colors of the words or letters, the size of the letters, the directions and angles of what I’m writing, and integrate pictures into the poster too.  Once the guys saw what I wanted they got down to it and did a great job.

While walking around to see what the guys were writing and assess their writing and general English levels I noticed something that looked familiar to me . . .

Looking closer I saw that this student had drawn a caricature of me, lol.  Then I noticed the word “surgery” and an arrow pointing to my eyelid–uhm, what???  Later, when I asked him what that was about he kind of shrugged and didn’t really answer.  I’ve been told I have very deep-set eyes, so I wonder if he’s suggesting I need to get surgery to somehow bring them forward and make them more ‘open’ or something.  I will never get cosmetic surgery, but the idea is funny.

Oh yeah, I also told him I thought my picture made me look like a serial killer–the other guys at the table were highly amused at the notion of the foreign teacher being a serial killer, lol.

There are several other posters and I’ll post pictures of the more interesting ones some time this week.  The other student in the picture below drew a picture of himself with a six pack and bulging biceps . . . it’s always interesting to see what the interests outside of school students in Korea have as school dominates so much of their daily lives.

Now you may have noticed that I drew two stick character pictures on the white board in a picture at the beginning of this post.  I’ve finally found a teaching method that effectively prevents students from blurting out rude questions–at least it seems to be working so far with the high school freshmen; whether or not it would work with middle school students is another thing, and I doubt very much it would work with elementary students due to the maturity level.

One of the reasons I do my white board work before I begin teaching is that it gives the students time to read it and think about the two pictures during the minutes leading up to the start of my class.  Later, after doing my balloon ice breaking activity and classroom rules I have an introduction power point I show the students.  It’s full of pictures and basic info about myself: name, age, my university major, my hobbies, family pictures, and other stuff that I think the guys would find interesting.  It humanizes the foreign teacher into a person instead of me as whatever negative image Korean news media has influenced the students into stereotyping me with (though I like to think many of the students are smart enough to know the racist stereotypes used about foreigners are not true).

After I finish my power point I talk about the pictures on the white board and go over the handout seen below in this picture.

I talk about several things over a period of 3 minutes.

1.  The need for Koreans when speaking in English to learn English cultural rules.

2.  The need to avoid using Korean social behavior rules when speaking in English to native speakers of English.

3.  Tips on how to figure out the answers to questions without actually asking the questions.  For example, “Are you married?”  Check the ring finger on the left hand–no ring generally means not married.

4.  I explain that I understand in Korean culture there are questions that MUST be asked and answered in order to know the proper forms of address and to ensure you’re being polite, but that those questions when used in an English conversation with a native speaker of English can often be considered rude.

5.  I point out that while some Koreans may say that we’re in Korea so we should follow Korean culture all the time that this doesn’t work for tourists because they are only here for a short time, that it doesn’t work for business situations because both parties have to respect each other’s cultures, and finally that if I was speaking in KOREAN but using ENGLISH CULTURE communication rules for being polite and making conversation that most if not all Koreans would tell me I MUST follow Korean culture rules when speaking in Korean, and by that standard we should consider what that means for when a Korean is speaking English . . .

There are a few more things I say while I talk about this handout but I think I’ve covered most of the primary points.  I don’t think I would have covered as many points if the freshmen English levels were lower but because I was talking to a very smart group of high level guys I felt it was appropriate.

By now you may be wondering when I was going to talk about my teaching nightmare and zombie students . . .

Here’s my story.  I’ve done my balloon ice breaking activity over a hundred times during my five years in Korea.  I’ve used it with elementary students, middle school students, high school students, university students, and Korean English teacher trainees with good to excellent results EVERY TIME!

Yesterday, however, was the first time in my five years of using this ice breaker that I experienced an almost complete and utter lack of reaction.

Alright, I think more detail is necessary to understand my shock at the students lack of reactions . . .

Step 1:  I ask the students what ‘ice breaking activity’ means.  Usually they don’t know the term so I ask them if they think it means breaking a block of ice literally.  I mime holding a piece of ice and breaking it with my head, and make a big production of doing it.  I may not get every student in the classes I’ve done this with to laugh, but I usually get at least HALF of the class to laugh.  In yesterday’s camp I don’t think I even got a giggle out of ONE of the guys.

Step 2:  After explaining ice breaking activity to the students, I then pull out a balloon from my pocket. I ask them to tell me what it is in English.  I then ask them to tell me how to spell it.  I ask them what color it is, and how to spell the color.  Getting them to do these simple things begins a pattern of me asking them to do something, and then them doing it (generally a good thing in teaching, lol, and something that if you haven’t taught in Korea you won’t understand why I point out such an ‘obvious’ thing–until you come here and are trying to get students to answer BASIC questions, lol).

Step 3:  I then tell them that we’re going to play a crazy English speaking game.  I tell them that the balloon is magical and it has the power to help them speak English loudly and quickly.  Usually at this point the students all begin laughing, and looking at each other nervously and excitedly.  Yesterday’s freshman . . . pretty much zombies snoozing after chowing down on the native English teacher’s entrails . . . yes, by this point it was that bad! LOL…sigh.

Step 4:  I then begin blowing up the balloon.  At this point I scan the class and look for a student who is shy and quiet.  The reason for this is that as I continue blowing up the balloon I move closer and closer to that student.  I pause one time just before I blow in the last possible breath into the balloon, and ask the class if I should blow more air into the balloon.  Usually I get several shouts of “MORE! MORE!” and “NO! NO! STOP!” from different students in the class, while at the same time the shy and quiet student is trying to crawl under their desk . . . all of this gets the class relaxed and excited to see what happens next.  Yesterday’s class . . . almost nothing.

You might say that I had a Ben Stein-teacher-moment . . .

Apparently my ‘voodoo’ ice breaking activity finally met its match in the zombies attending the camp, lol.

Step 5:  After I finish blowing up the balloon as big as it can get without out popping it I usually look at it, slam it a bit with my hands to make a nice boomy sound, and say something like “Oh, so beautiful” which also gets a laugh from the students.  I then explain the four rules to the game.  1)  You must speak loudly. 2) No mistakes. 3) No cheating. (As in friends whispering answers to students who don’t know what to say.) 4) Perfect pronunciation.  After telling the students the four rules I then get them to recite them back one by one to me to make sure they know the rules.  If the students are lower level I ask a different student, after getting them to repeat the rule, to explain its meaning in Korean, so I can try to ensure the students know what the rules are.

At this point, I then explain that if any of the rules are broken that I pop the balloon–and then I POP THE BALLOON, lol.  At this point the whole class I’m working with, regardless of age or gender, all begin laughing and talking excitedly and they’ve completely forgotten to be shy and quiet around the strange foreign teacher.

Yesterday’s class–I got some animated facial expressions, and a few exclamations, and then . . . back to zombie mode–argh!

Step 6: While the students are recovering from the balloon popping, I immediately begin blowing up another balloon.  Once that is done I tell them that they’re going to recite the alphabet (I usually have to repeat the word 2-3 times because they don’t understand it, and sometimes even get the co-teacher to translate) one by one through the class.  If the class is very low level I do a practice run once through with me modeling the pronunciation–otherwise things go downhill pretty fast!!

Sometimes, believe it or not, I even write out the alphabet on the white board.  Whether or not the class is struggling to recite the alphabet in the game one by one because their levels are so low, or because they’re shy, or whatever the reason happens to be . . . sometimes you have to write the English you’re working with onto the white board.  It’s more important that the activity is successful, especially for an ice breaker, then sticking to some insanely strict idea about what the students ’should’ be able to do.

Step 7:  The game begins . . . if the students break ANY of the 4 rules–POP!

Step 8:  As I go from student to student I stop the game occasionally to correct any mistakes.  If the student gets the pronunciation somewhat correct I don’t pop the balloon but I do prompt them with a modeling of the correct pronunciation and ask them to do it again.

Step 9:  Then I move on to days of the week.  After running through that 3 or 4 times, depending on how big the class is, I tell the students we have to raise the level of the game.  I go to my desk and grab my water bottle.  I take out a new balloon, and put a tiny bit of water into the balloon, and then blow it up to about half of the balloon’s capacity.  While I’m doing this I usually hear a lot of excited and nervous comments from the students.

Step 10: Months of the year.  Students usually all begin groaning and making worried comments because they know there’s at least one student who will likely not be able to say the correct month when it’s their turn and that I’ll then pop the balloon . . . but the great thing about the water in the balloon is that if there was any boredom setting in that quickly disappears.

Sometimes I pop the balloon with a tiny bit of water in it and other times I don’t even if there were a few small mistakes made by students.  If the student who makes a mistake tries again and gets it right, I don’t pop it.  For shy and insecure students I also will sometimes give them some hints like the first letter of the word, or first few letters, or I’ll draw the letters in the air with my finger . . . that kind of thing to help out the lower level students.

In classes where I’ve got demon-students who are extremely loud and/or disruptive I pull a chair up to the front of the classroom, point at the student, and get them sitting in it. I then place the balloon on top of their head, and say “Okay, let’s go!”  At this point the class usually goes bonkers, along with the student in the chair, and I know the ice breaker has done its job.  I whisper to the student “trust me” or “kenchenayo” (“relax”) so they have an idea that I will NOT POP THE BALLOON!  I have never in the dozens of times I’ve done this popped the balloon while it is near the student’s head.

The power of the balloon on the student’s head comes from the illusion I create that I will pop the balloon, and this is an immensely powerful motivator to the students in the class to speak English loudly and to try very hard to speak English well.

However, yesterday’s zombie class barely reacted, and even after I put water in the balloon students were still barely speaking above a soft level of volume.  My co-teacher and I were both astounded that the ice breaker wasn’t getting the desired results . . .

I came to the realization, after finishing up my ice breaking DISASTER, that I had gotten a class full of students who were extremely introverted, very smart, and very talented in English.  Apparently this combination of elements in a class will produce an impervious shield that can repel the magical spell of my balloon ice breaking activity.

I guess it was bound to happen some time . . .

Now to begin plotting some kind of learning activity that will truly break the ice . . . MOOWHAHAHAHA!

J

Winter English Camp in South Korea: Camp #2, Day 1 — Lesson prep in Korea is the Achilles Heel of EFL teaching

I’m still writing up the first English camp I just finished this past Friday and will try to post the series (it covers 8 days) some time this week.

This morning I came to school and did the small bit of prep I needed to do for my second two week winter English camp.  Then the events of today reminded me yet again why lesson prep in Korea is pretty much the Achilles Heel of EFL teaching.  Let me explain.

Last December I organized an informal winter English camp workshop at my high school for other foreign teachers who wanted to collaborate ideas and materials.  About 9 teachers showed up and we talked for nearly 3 hours.  It was awesome.  Ironically, we ran out of time before my turn came up to describe the criteria of my camp (number of students, grade level, number of classes per day, number of days in total, and other info) and get some ideas from the others–but that was okay because my English camp experience Korea is pretty extensive (click here to see my English Camps in South Korea – A Guideline for Foreign English Teachers) and while it would have been nice to get some feedback about my camp plan there were other teachers, especially newbies, who really needed more time to collaborate than I did.

Anyways, the reason I mention the workshop is that I had been planning my winter English camp theme, lesson outlines and notes, supplies I would need, and other details nearly TWO MONTHS before the camps I am now teaching would begin–and I should have known better!

Some time in the last week of December my co-teacher and I got together to confirm all the details of my camp . . . and it was at that point that I realized the camps were really just a ‘Come See The Alien Teacher Show’ for the incoming freshman students.  The camp schedule had been set up so that I’d only have TWO HOURS with each of the freshman classes–two hours?!

The only things I would have been able to accomplish in a two hour period of contact time with freshman are: introductions, ice-breaking activity for myself and the students, and self-introduction posters–my favorite ice-breaking activity for the freshman to introduce themselves to each other.

Needless to say I was a bit . . . uhm, what’s the word I want to use here . . . ARGH! That’ll do.

I politely (though with a very disgusted facial expression, I’m sure) explained to my co-teacher that I did not want to do an alien freak show, and asked her if any of the other Korean teachers were having the same sort of schedule set up with the incoming freshman (I already knew what the answer would be–no, of course not) and after she said they weren’t I pointed out that this was a complete and utter waste of my time, and the students’ time . . . and she agreed with me.

I’m pretty sure it also helps that I had several papers with me including a camp syllabus that I had designed.  I had already gone over with her the theme I’d chosen for my camp, the learning goals I had for the students, the number of classes assigned to each of the learning goals, and other planning I’d done . . . it was pretty obvious to my co-teacher and the Korean teacher that this wasn’t a case of a foreign teacher whining and complaining for no good reason–I had specific professional teaching issues with a camp concept and schedule that wanted to use me as an alien freak show, and lucky for me this was one of those rare times during my teaching tenure in Korea that the Koreans in charge of my teaching situation listened to me, heard and understood what I had to say, and agreed with me.  (Yes, I’m still in shock!)

(For those reading this blog outside of Korea, and who have never taught in a Korean public school, what I mean by ‘alien freak show’ is the tendency in Korea to parade foreign teachers out in front of students, Korean teachers, and sometimes even parents during the first day of an English camp.  Typically the audience ooohs, and ahhhs, laughs a lot, and yells things at the native teachers whose reactions range from ‘let’s get this over with’ to ‘oh my god, why am I here?’)

The fact that my co-teacher listened to me, and didn’t try to strong-arm me into agreeing and submitting to a plan that we both knew is bad, is yet another example of why my co-teacher is the goddess of all Korean English co-teachers in Korea.  (Anyone who knows me in Korea will also know that this is NOT typical of my general discourse about co-teaching in Korea–so let me assure you that when I give this kind of high praise it is based on having worked with a large number of co-teachers.)  Most other co-teachers would have argued with me or tried to persuade me to just say yes or blatantly ordered me to obey and follow the schedule as it had been set up.  I didn’t get any of that pseudo-Korean army culture nonsense from my co-teacher–wow.

After talking with me in English for a couple minutes she then explained in Korean what I had been saying to the Korean teacher in charge of organizing the camp schedules for all the teachers at the school.  He understood, and had the decency to look a bit embarrassed at the situation; I found out later, however, that it hadn’t been him at all who was responsible for the idea of putting me out on display for the freshman (I won’t say who it was, but expats with time in Korea will know who makes those types of decisions in Korean public schools, ’nuff said).  The  meeting ended with me telling my co-teacher that if I had to do an alien freak show that was ‘fine,’ but that I was very unhappy about it and hoped that some kind of changes would be made to the concept of the camp and its schedule.

Looking back at this meeting and the fact that I didn’t go into a typical Jason-hyper-assertive borderline hyper-aggressive push for concrete changes to be made in my camp schedule and the type of camp classes I’d be doing . . . well, let’s just say I am shocked by how much I’ve changed since, oh, let’s say 2007.  In 2007 I had been in Korea going on 3 years, and I got to a point, I think for very legitimate educational and professional reasons, where I stopped being concerned with education ‘cultural differences’ and would go hard core assertive on my co-teachers about any issues and situations that fell under the general category of ‘good EFL/ESL teaching and learning’ criteria; I got to the point where I completely stopped considering relationships and social harmony (according to Korean cultural rules) where I was working because I truly believed that those things in Korea are the antithesis, rather, the Nemesis (I mean ‘Nemesis’ here in the sense of something that is the education system’s own worst enemy) of professionalism and quality teaching and learning.  I still believe that the Korean school and work culture focus (one might also say ‘obsession’) on relationships and social harmony as a priority that supersedes professionalism and quality teaching and learning is one of the biggest problems in the education system in general–but I’ve learned how to identify Koreans who will use the indirect approach effectively (meaning ‘backroom meetings where Korean social political power is really exercised away from the underlings–namely ME) to try and maintain harmonious relationships between everyone involved in the English camp situation and at the same time try to produce a good quality camp concept, schedule, and ultimately avoid making teacher Jason an alien freak show.

I think it was a few days later that my co-teacher told me that my ideas had been well received and that instead of doing the alien freak show style camp that I’d now be doing 2 two-week camps, 20 hours of teaching time each, with 20-25 students in each of the camps, and that I could use the same lesson materials for both camps thus cutting down on my prep time and energy.  SERIOUSLY?!  She truly is Korea’s goddess of co-teachers!  I was in shock that this big a transformation had been made, and I had been working really hard to try and create a more open-minded attitude on my part towards the original plan in spite of my absolute disgust towards it . . .

To tie all of this back to today, and it being the first day of my second two-week camp . . . my first camp went exceptionally well.  Last Friday I gave my guys a student survey questionnaire to fill out about my teaching, camp lesson content, and other aspects of the camp and I got really good scores on everything.  Here’s the questionnaire I gave them,

2010 Winter English Camp Student Survey

1.  How was the teacher’s speaking speed in class?	1	2	3	4	5
2.  Did the English paragraph writing have enough classes? (6 classes) Do you think you need less or more classes?*If you missed a writing class please check this box.	1	2	3	4	5
3.  How was the teacher’s explanation of how to write English paragraphs?	1	2	3	4	5
4.  Did you have enough time to do writing exercises in class?	1	2	3	4	5
5.   Please rate your interest level in learning how to write BEFORE the writing classes. (1 = no interest . . . 5 = very high interest)	1	2	3	4	5
6.    Please rate your interest level in learning how to write AFTER the writing classes. (1 = no interest . . . 5 = very high interest)	1	2	3	4	5
7.    How was the teacher’s attitude? (1 = not prepared and uncaring …. 5 = excellent preparation and high enthusiasm)	1	2	3	4	5
8.   Did using video raise your motivation to practice speaking?	1	2	3	4	5
9.   Did using video help you improve your speaking and gestures?	1	2	3	4	5
10.   How was the teacher’s explanation of how to do a demonstration speech?(pronunciation, rhythm, gestures, body posture, etc)	1	2	3	4	5
11.  Were the demonstration speech handouts interesting and fun?	1	2	3	4	5
12.  Were the writing exercise handouts interesting and fun?	1	2	3	4	5
13.  Did your English writing skills improve?(1 = not at all …. 5 = 100%)	1	2	3	4	5
14.  Did your English speaking skills improve? (1 = not at all …. 5 = 100%)	1	2	3	4	5
15.  How would you rate this winter English camp overall?	1	2	3	4	5

1 = Needs Improvement, 2 = Okay, 3 = Good, 4 = Very Good, 5 = Excellent

1.  What are your 3 favorite things about this English camp? Please explain why for each.

2.  Where are 3 things you didn’t like about this English camp?  Please explain why for each.

3.  What would you like to learn in future English camps?  Please explain why. (Think about this summer 2010.)  Here are some examples: essay writing, story writing, reading, listening, speaking/conversation, business English, job/university interview English . . .

4.  Please write any thoughts or feelings about the English camp and Teacher Jason you want to share.  Be honest so that future English camps can improve.

I think the freshmen, and my Korean co-teacher, were shocked that I was giving them the opportunity to VOICE their thoughts and feelings about the camp, and potentially to criticize me as a teacher.  I also think that the freshmen really liked that they were being given a tool with which they could actively participate in shaping future learning and teaching–something that rarely if ever happens in their regular classes (though this coming semester will see the beginning of Korean teacher evaluations by students).

I was really happy to get 5/5 across the board from all the students for overall satisfaction with the camp.  The rest of the scores were predominantly 5s, and the remainder 4s . . . with one exception.  Many students gave 3s and 2s for question #2–they wanted MORE WRITING CLASSES WITH ME–AWESOME!!!

Okay . . . re-reading this post I’m realizing that it’s gotten a bit more ‘organic’ than I’d like it to be though I would like to think the tangents I go off on all spring from writing about winter camps and lesson prep, lol.

To wrap this up . . . I think my winter English camp schedule changed a total of about 8 times before it was ’set in stone’–though I hesitate to use that expression because in camp #1 and now in camp #2 I am being thrown a curve ball that impacts how I organize my lessons for writing and demonstration speeches.

Apparently no one gave much consideration to the fact that the incoming freshman have to return to their middle schools during February to attend their graduation ceremonies.  There are also a few days where the guys have to go to the school too for ‘classes’ which are really nothing more than an opportunity for last minute administration tasks to be done before they move on to their high schools.

How does this impact my camp schedule and lesson plans you might ask?  Well, I’ve assigned six hours of class to learning how to write paragraphs and paragraph format rules.  The six hours take place over the course of 3 days, and if a student misses even ONE day of the three they have a really hard time catching up with the others because of the developmental structure of my lessons and the writing exercises I have them doing in each class.  Last week, a couple guys missed one day, and one guy missed two days, and when they walked in and tried to participate and keep up they really struggled.

I know that professional teachers, regardless of what socio-cultural teaching environment they find themselves in, always have to adapt and be flexible to schedule changes, and to having students walk into their classes who have been absent and need to be caught up . . .

But I think that Korea must be at the far extreme end of the scheduling and lesson planning continuum.

More to come about Day 1, Winter English Camp #2.

J

Bugs and Apartment Life in South Korea – A giant cockroach visited my girlfriend today . . . no, really.

A giant cockroach visited Julianne in her apartment this afternoon . . . no, really.

I’ve had several different apartments in Korea over the years and never really had a major problem with bugs.  I’m not saying there haven’t been bugs, but the number and type haven’t been anything like a serious infestation or problem.

I don’t know what the actual percentage is of foreign English teachers who are placed in apartments that have bug problems.  I’d have to say based on how many teachers I’ve heard talk about it as a problem that it’d be something like 25% or so.  The majority of apartments in Korea will from time to time have ants, cockroaches, and other critters appear to one degree or another–but in terms of them being a chronic presence and problem relative to apartment life in Korea I’d say 25% sounds accurate in my experience of hearing stories from teachers.

One of my friend’s had an apartment infested with bed bugs of some kind.  In fact, the ENTIRE apartment building was infested, and it had to be bug bombed several times to get rid of the problem.  In my mind, an infestation where you get bitten all the time, and cannot sleep because you’re being bitten all the time–now THAT is a BUG PROBLEM!

Other teachers talk about cockroach and ant problems in the foreign teacher apartment ghettos in Seoul and other places around Korea.  The stories I hear from foreign teacher ghettos sound pretty bad too.

Today’s solo cockroach visit–not a problem! (For me, anyway, lol.)

This is the first giant cockroach that Julianne and I have found in her apartment.  I’m not bothered by them at all but Julianne is allergic to them.  There’s a chemical or something that they have that bothers Julianne.  I don’t fully understand how that works, but I just go with it, lol.

Anyways, the visitation caused a wee bit of excitement for Julianne, and a wee bit of amusement for her boyfriend, lol.

While proof-reading this post Julianne said in a semi-NOT-amused voice, “I’m glad I can entertain you.”

And then a request to let readers know that she’s not normally squeamish.  You know, the whole jumping on a chair when a mouse comes in a room . . . she doesn’t usually act like that.

Oh, her last comment was, “You’re mean!”

MOOWHAHHAHAHAH!

I’m the devil . . . and she loves me.

J

EFL Foreign Teacher Motivation – What do you do when you don’t feel like teaching but have to?

It’s a gorgeous day outside with a clear blue sky and not too cold a temperature . . . and I really don’t feel like teaching.

I decided that it’d be interesting to write about “What do you do when you don’t feel like teaching but have to?” and see what other teachers in and out of Korea do.

Here are some of the things I’ve done in the past.

1.  Put on a tie.  I normally wear a collared shirt and cotton pants or dress pants when I teach.  During my five years of teaching I have gone through periods where I dressed much more casually but I found that my behavior and motivation tended to be a little more relaxed than I like, and I also have seen that Korean teachers and students treat you differently based on your appearance (holy understatement batman!) so dressing things up a notch helps with a lot of different aspects of teaching in Korea.   Wearing a tie makes me feel more professional and therefore I act more professional.  I’m not saying a lack of a tie equals less professional, but business dress does help with my teaching motivation levels.

2.  Video my class (or lecture when I was teaching university).  Videoing my class is a really amazing way to up the ante on my motivation and general awareness of myself as a teacher in the classroom and I know for a fact that my performance levels jump up with the video camera on.  On top of raising my motivation and performance levels I also usually watch the video afterwards to see what went well and what needs improvement so the long term benefits to helping myself become a better teacher are a great bonus.

3.  Caffeine.  There are some days where nothing I do inside my head will give me more energy so drinking some green tea or Coke gives me an energy boost that translates into teaching motivation once I’m actually in the classroom and the teaching has begun.  I don’t like to rely on stimulants as the fuel for my teaching but there are days where I’m tired for whatever reason and simply need some kind of aid.  (I just asked one the Korean teachers in my office what he does and he said, “Smoke a cigarette”–lol.)

4.  Think about students in Korea and their future.  Korean students futures depend on doing well on tests and attaining high academic rankings.  In the big scheme of things a bad day of teaching can cause ripple effects that diminish to a small degree their future performance on the Seunung (Korean SAT exam).  When I think about how many hours (whether or not it’s serious studying) Korean students put into each day leading towards the exam that defines their entire lives (I’m not exaggerating) it helps snap me out of whatever demotivated state I might be in.

5.  Re-signing at the same school/university and reference letters for future teaching positions.  When it comes time for renewing and signing another contract with my employer my overall teaching performance will be under scrutiny.  If I’ve had too many days during the course of the year where it appears to co-teachers and students that I didn’t care, had no energy or enthusiasm, etc, then I may not be offered another contract.  Or, if I want to move on to another position and need a reference letter the chances of getting a really good letter may be lower.

6.  Professionalism.  My 0wn sense of professionalism and how I try to enact that each time I walk into my classroom to teach.  In spite of cultural differences in how “professionalism” is defined according to Korean education culture (it is NOT the same) versus western cultural norms and values . . . I try to find some way of being true to my personal ideas of teaching professionalism.

7.  Talk to other positive and professional teachers and/or friends.  I think most teachers find that if they talk to another teacher about whatever is on their mind that the mutual understanding really helps you feel better.  Often a small comment or idea that the friend makes also works wonders.  The one thing to watch out for when you do this is to make sure the person you talk to is not also having a bad motivation day unless you know both of you will help build each other up as opposed to making things worse, lol.

8.  Remind myself that once I get in the classroom and begin teaching that energy comes from the act of teaching itself, and the students usually energize me too with their smiles, laughter, and of course the random comments using English in very unusual ways, lol.

Well, those are the ways I try to re-motivate myself on days when I’m just not in the mood to teach.

What do you do?

And on that note–it’s time to go outside and enjoy the blue skies and life outside of teaching! Ha!

J

Winter English Camp Konglish: “shampoo and rinse” and “wash towel”

I’m way behind on writing up the seven of nine days of winter camp I’ve taught so far . . . I have pictures of the guys doing stuff, and stories galore . . . but for now a small story will have to do.

Oh, before I get to the story there’s one other interesting thing that happened today at camp.  The students I’m working with are NEW freshman–technically they’re still middle school students right now–and the Korean education cultural organization of the winter break period threw me a curve ball today.  Let me explain.

The winter break is not a consecutive block of time off from school.  Korean students go on winter break and then after about 5-6 weeks they come back to school for 2-5 five days, and then they go on ’spring break’ . . . yes, that’s how it works.  Don’t ask me why they don’t just finish up EVERYTHING school related before they break at the end of December so that they can have an uninterrupted vacation–err, cough! cough! I mean winter classes time–they just don’t do it that way.  The students and teachers all come back to the school for a few days to do whatever it is they do, and of course have a graduation ceremony. (In fact, one might say that there is no such thing as a ‘vacation’ in Korea for students.   The teachers give the students winter and summer homework assignments–yes, I just said they give them HOMEWORK during the ‘breaks!’)

What does all this have to do with my winter camp?  Well, today I had SIX students in my class, SIX!  Originally 25 had supposedly signed up but I have only been getting 16 or 17 every day.  I altered my lesson plans accordingly and things had been going well up till now.  The thing is I had been told (yes, shocking, I was told this would happen a week ago by my co-teacher–yes, she is that AWESOME!) that some students might not be in my classes this week because of graduation ceremonies but for some reason it didn’t register in my head that this would actually happen . . . but it did.

Anyways, losing 10 students is not actually that big a deal.  It’s especially not a big deal cause the remaining six are actually the ones with the best attitudes and who have been trying the hardest.  Yes, I pretty much won a kind of teacher lottery! Woohoo!

Alright . . . . let me tell you my story about winter English camp Konglish . . .

Today the guys brainstormed topics for the demonstration speech they’re going to have to perform on video tomorrow.  Before setting them loose to choose their own topics we did a group brainstorming of possible topics to help them get a sense of what I wanted them to think of.

Not only is the demonstration speech a great exercise for the guys to practice their English speaking skills in general, but it also focuses on gestures, body posture, intonation and stress.  In addition to all these things I really love that it gets them THINKING about the English language content and delivery on their own (for the most part).  Unlike the robotic language learning styles of listen and repeat, and memorize a script until you can mindlessly recite it whenever the right triggers are given (A: How are you? B: I’m fine and you.–BARF!) the demonstration speech requires a degree of language learner autonomy if it is done well (I’ve given them a rubric which I’ll be using to evaluate them with, and which they’ll get back when they’re done).

Anyways, today while working on writing out the language they’d be using for their particular demonstration speech two different conversations came up.

The first was when I spot checked one guy’s “How to take a shower” speech script.  He had written “shampoo and rinse” but not in the normal usage native speakers of English think.  He meant to say “shampoo and condition” or “shampoo and then put conditioner in your hair.”  We chatted about the two different ways of using “rinse” and that unfortunately the Konglish way had to be fixed otherwise no native speaker of English would have a clue what he meant if he used the word that way outside of Korea (or inside, for that matter). It’s amazing how Koreans, who are generally very concerned about the RULES of using English, can take a verb and make it a noun . . . and BREAK A GRAMMAR RULE!  Shocking . . . okay, I’m being VERY sarcastic right now, lol.

Update: Argh . . . and this is why teaching English in Korea is NOT an easy job.

–noun

5.	an act or instance of rinsing.

6.	the water used for rinsing.

7.	any preparation that may be used on the hair after washing, esp. to tint or condition the hair.

8.	an act or instance of using such a preparation on the hair.

OHHHHHHHHHHHH! Julianne and I were just talking about my blog and “rinse.”  She told me that in England they say “shampoo and rinse” in the sense of “shampoo and conditioner”–argh.  I guess I’ll be doing some backpedaling tomorrow in class and explaining that I didn’t know about that.  I will say, though, that most if not all Korean English students want to know American English so the error on my part is negligible.

Update: Okay . . . ‘negligible’ error has now been upgraded to eating a part of my foot tomorrow when I explain my error to the students, and then talk about cultural differences in usages of English.  Oh well, nobody’s perfect (though I can try, dammit!)

Alright, now back to the second part of this story . . .

The second conversation about Konglish involved another student’s demo speech script, “How to wash your face.”  This chat revolved around the different types of vocabulary for towels and how these words are used in everyday life.  This student had been using “wash towel” in place of “wash cloth” in his script.  At this point my co-teacher joined the conversation because it was about a very particular usage of English words, lol, and most if not all co-teachers love engaging in nit-picky discussions about the rules of usage for English.  I should elaborate further and say that my co-teacher for this camp is fantastic, and that he was not being an English-Nazi (also known as a Grammar-Nazi) when it came to his contributions to the discussion, and for this I was extremely grateful because it can be really draining on me as a teacher to have to be polite, patient, and tactful with a co-teacher who is possessed by either of the two demons I just mentioned . . .

Getting back to ‘wash towel,’ I explained to the student that in North America we say ‘wash cloth’ when the action is ‘washing your face with a small piece of towel-like material that you wet and rub with soap.’  Suddenly the rest of the class was all quiet and interested in the discussion, and other guys began asking questions and also talking about this in really fast Korean, lol.

I then went on to say that if the word for a piece of cotton material is used in a drying situation it is a ‘towel,’ but that if the piece of cotton material is being used for washing with soap and water it is a ‘cloth.’  Apparently some Koreans, nobody in the class really put a number on how many, use hand towels for washing–wow, lol.  The general consensus of the class, however, was that most Koreans probably use a wash cloth in the same manner as English speaking people do.

And that’s my story.

Yesterday I attended my high school’s graduation ceremony and took a lot of pictures.  I’ll try and do a blog about that soon.

I’ll leave you with a teaser–can you figure out why this student is wearing a black jacket with a skull on the back while accepting an award for academic excellence? Lol . . . I’ll bet you’re surprised by the reason.

J

Random things from this past week . . . a motorcycle, my school, an ugly dog, a mountain landscape, and a student’s lunchbox — this is my life…

Over the last month, maybe even two months, I haven’t been doing much blogging . . . and I’m going to try and get back to my habit of putting up at least 3 or 4 posts a week.

Last Friday, and all of this week, I began my first winter English camp at my all boys high school.  The students are the incoming freshman and I’ve really enjoyed working with them.  One of my high school’s criteria for new students applying to it this year was that they had to be in the top 10% of all middle school applicants–and the difference between the incoming freshman and last year’s freshman is extreme.

Anyways, suffice it to say that I’m really looking forward to teaching them in the spring semester, and that my winter camp has been freaking awesome so far.  The first camp runs over the course of two weeks, and then I do another two weeks with a different group of freshman . . . I’ve got a series of blog posts in the works about what I’ve been doing at the camp, and I’ll post them this weekend or at the latest early next week.

The weather in Seoul has been a lot ‘warmer’ lately (Julianne would strongly disagree! Lol . . . she thinks anything colder than -5 is really cold) and I’ve been able to get a few pictures while out walking around Seoul.  Here’s one of a delivery motorcycle overloaded with pink carpets (?).

The driver was going pretty slow–especially considering that the ‘normal’ speed for these guys is FAST–so the weight of his cargo must have been heavy enough to slow him down in order to stay upright and balanced, lol.

The next pictures is from one morning this week when I was arriving at work to teach my winter camp classes.  The sky was a really beautiful blue, and I was in a great mood heading in for winter camp classes (which has not always been the case in the past when teaching camps at other places I’ve worked at in Korea, so I was in an especially good mood!)

The camp schedule gives me 20 classes with the freshman and I decided that six hours of that time would be devoted to learning how to write a paragraph in English.  To spice things up a bit in the writing exercise you see below there is a picture of the ugliest dog in the world (I think he won in 2008) . . . needless to say the guys reacted pretty strongly when they first saw the picture, lol.

This is my student’s lunch box.  I told him that the lunch box back I had back in Canada when I was in school was about 4 times bigger, lol.  And it definitely didn’t have the same kind of food in it.  It’s kind of amazing to think about how different food culture is in Korea versus Canada . . . I would have a drink box, a sandwich my mom made, a piece of fruit or a fruit cup, maybe a pudding cup too, and some kind of dessert like a Joe Luis (similar to a Choco Pie in Korea).  Then you take a look at this guy’s lunch: rice, chicken, small wieners, and something else (sorry, can’t remember).  It’s no wonder Koreans are thinner than Canadian high school kids!

Lastly, I took this picture while walking around the Jongo area of central Seoul.  I like it a lot because it gives you a sense of the Korean landscape and how even in a major city like Seoul you nearly always see a mountain in the background.

Well, I don’t have much else to write about tonight . . . tomorrow I’m going with Julianne to a friend’s wedding at a wedding castle.  Julianne has never been to what I call “Las Vegas meets Disney World” aka a wedding castle and it should be a lot of fun.

J

Moving Sale – A friend of mine is leaving Korea and she has lots of stuff to sell…

A friend and former co-worker of mine is leaving Korea and she has a lot of stuff to sell.

“Everything in like new condition unless otherwise noted.  There’s more stuff…even some freebies. Come visit and see for yourself.

All prices negotiable – especially if you’re buying more than one thing!“

If you’re interested click this link to find out more information.  I copied and pasted the list of items and prices below.  If you go to the link you can see pictures of each item too.   As of Friday, January 29th the items below were not sold.

I wish her all the best and hope she finds success after life in Korea.

J

Car:

1998 Hyundai Sonata 4-door sedan. Green/grey color, AC, AM/FM/Cassette, Automatic transmission.  155,000kms.  Runs well.  All maintenance records available.  I’m the second owner.  The original owner was a professor I work with.  Transfer of ownership date negotiable but I’d like to use it until the end of February if possible.  Asking 1,000,000 won.

Furniture:

Bed – wood, strong frame, super-single bed & mattress.  Asking 180,000 won.
Wardrobe – wood, 2 drawers plus clothes bar.  Measurements:  32L x 23W x 74H / 81L x 59W x 188H cm.  Asking 80,000 won.
Desk – wood, low computer desk (I used it as a makeup table).  Measurements:  43.5L x 17W x 17H / 110L x 43W x 43H cm.   Asking 50,000 won.
Mirror – large, circular (23in/59cm) mirror on wood base (sitting on top of desk).  Asking 20,000 won.
Sofa – brick red, vinyl, 3 seater sofa.  Seat covers could use recovering.  Center seat sits lower than side seats.  Asking 50,000 won.
TV stand – wood, on wheels, 2 shelves (one lower & top for TV).  Measurements: 23.5W x 16L x 15H inches / 60W x 41L x 39H cm. Asking 10,000.
3 drawer chests – wood, one chest has 3 drawers (right of TV), the matching chest has 2 drawers and one door with glass front (left of TV).  Chests each measure 25H x 23L x 16.5W inches / 64H x 59L x 42W cm.  Asking 25,000 each.
Table – wood, folding legs.  Top in good shape but a couple faint marks.  Seats 4 to 6.  Measurements:  35L x 23.5W x 11.5H inches / 89L x 60W x 29H cm.  Asking 10,000 won.
Table – wood, folding legs, traditional Korean design.  Seats 6 to 8.  Measurements:  48L x 31.5W x 13H inches / 122L x 80W x 33H cm.  Asking 35,000.
Stool – brick red seat, black metal legs.  Height: 18 in/46 cm.  Asking 5,000 won.
Full length mirror – white.	SOLD
Chest of drawers – 5 deep drawers, plastic.  Excellent for storage.  Asking 10,000 won.
Coat tree – wood.	SOLD
Office chair – black cloth seat.  Very comfortable.  Originally 250,000 won. Asking 100,000 won.

Electrical:

Air conditioner – Whisen, tower style air conditioner, programmable, including external exhaust unit & remote.  Asking 600,000 won.
Oven – Lotte oven.  Has 4 stovetop burners, oven bakes & broils, 2 oven racks.  Top folds down over stovetop to create more countertop space.  Oven is older but works perfectly.  Includes valves for LNG & LPG gas hookups.  Asking 200,000 won.
TV – Samsung 20” color TV with remote. (Delivery Feb. 19th).  Asking 70,000 won.
Slow cooker – Bought from Costco.  Very new.	SOLD
Steam Iron – Asking 30,000 won.
Fan – light blue, 3 speed, oscillating fan.	SOLD
Rice cooker – Smaller size.  Asking 20,000 won.
Toaster – 2 slices.	SOLD
Microwave oven – White & black, Samsung microwave.  Turn table.	SOLD
Braun Hand Blender – whip, blend, chop, puree – whatever you like.  Asking 25,000.
Space Heater – 2 heat settings, pivots on its base.  Radiating style heat.  Asking 20,000 won.
Refridgerator – bar fridge, no freezer.  Perfect for office.	SOLD
Speaker set – 1 base speaker, 2 tweeters, has own volume control.  Solid black.  Sits on table/desk top.  Perfect as attachment to computer for stereo sound.	SOLD
Vacuum – bagless, dustbuster style with crevice & floor heads.	SOLD
Lamp – silver color, 2 bulbs, dimmer switch.  Measures:16.5H x 6L x 6W inches / 42H x 15L x 15W cm.	SOLD
CD/Cassette/Radio player – with remote.  Asking 50,000 won.

Shelving/Clothes Bars:

		Floor to ceiling clothes organizer/bars – 3 floor to ceiling poles, 3 cross bars, 2 baskets that attach to poles, front curtains.  Height & length of bars are adjustable.  Asking 80,000 won.
		Clothes bar – free standing (on wheels) beige, single bar with full length basket below.  Asking 5,000 won.
		Bookcase – wood, 4 shelf bookcase.  Asking 30,000 won.
		Bookcase – wood, 3 shelf bookcase.  Asking 25,000 won.
		Bookcase – wood, looks like one box from above bookcase (works great as a bedside table).  Asking 5,000 won.
		2 sets Kitchen shelves – wood.  Each has 4 shelves (2nd shelf pulls out).  Measurements (to top shelf):  47.5H x 23.5L x 15W inches / 121H x 60L x 38W cm. (I hope you can see the shelving – they hold a lot of stuff!) Asking 20,000 won each.
		Metal storage shelves – 3 shelves, on wheels.  Measurements:  33H x 21.5L x 13.5W inches / 84H x 55L x 35W cm.  Asking 5,000 won.	SOLD
		2 Shoe racks – one is black plastic with 6 shelves (one pr of shoes/shelf), the other is black wire with 3 shelves (3 prs of shoes/shelf)	SOLD

Miscellaneous: (Some prices not listed. – Make me an offer.)

Clothes drying rack – white bars, green metal frame.  (Picture shows arms folded down – but arms open big enough to hold a blanket.) (Delivery on Feb. 20th)  Asking 8,000 won.
Luggage dolly – folds up, sturdy.
Ironing board – full size, regular height ironing board.	SOLD
Bedding – 2 sets of mat, blanket & pillow.  Another pillow & blanket available too.
Telephone – beige, basic house phone.  (Available March 5th)
Dishes, dishes & more dishes – Corelle dish set, platters, Pyrex mixing/serving bowls, metal mixing bowls, baking pans (cake, muffin, bread), Pyrex pie plates, cutlery (knives, forks, chopsticks & spoon set for 10), all kinds of cooking utensils, pots & pans – you name it, I probably have it.
Plastic storage containers – from very small (kitchen use) to very large (clothing, etc).
Weights – two 2 pound weights, wrap around ankles or wrists.
Small 3 drawer set – plastic.  Good size for pens & stationery storage.
Garbage cans – variety of sizes & colors.
And LOTS MORE……Towels, bathmat, small cushion, baskets (small to medium sizes), hangers, books (not textbooks), small plastic sewing machine (not hand-held), herbs & spices, wrapping paper, Baduk (Go) board…..

Pigeons on ChangDeok Palace’s Main Gate, Seoul

I snapped this picture this afternoon while walking past ChangDeok Palace, Seoul . . .

I think they were looking at me . . . spooky!

J

Hard working Koreans in Seoul, 2010

I haven’t been outside taking pictures very much over the last couple weeks because of the very low temperatures.  Today, however, was above zero so I decided to walk around with my camera.

I’m always very impressed with the motorbike delivery guys in Seoul who work in all conditions, rain or shine.  Based on how many delivery scooters and motorbikes I see every day all over Seoul, without the efforts of these Koreans I imagine that businesses would suffer a major slow down without the delivery guys.  If you look closely at the center biker you’ll see the special wrapping he has around the bike’s handle bars . . .

Later, I saw these guys hanging in the air painting.  I don’t know how many stories the building had that they were on but it is one of the taller buildings in Seoul.

I’m not sure if these workers were Korean, or migrant workers from another country, but I have a lot of respect for the courage and physical strength it must take to do what they do for hours every day.  I’ve done some repelling when I was younger and that lasted all of a minute or two–being suspended in the air for an entire shift every day, wow.

I wasn’t standing far enough away from the building to get a full shot but this shows about 40% of the entire building’s height.

Later on I was walking alongside Cheonggye Stream and saw this crew cleaning the walkway with a high power hose . . . and a floor cleaning machine.  I’ve never seen one of those used outside, hmmm.

I finished up my walk near Jogye Temple and saw this shoe repair guy.  He had chosen a great location with a lot of foot traffic and appeared to have quite a few pairs of shoes and boots to work on.

Perhaps the biggest impression I’ve felt lately made by a working Korean was the grandmother-aged woman I saw a week ago during one of the -25 degree nights.  I don’t have a picture of her but she was pushing a cart full of cardboard boxes along the sidewalk, and periodically stopping and picking up more recycling .

Long after I’ve left Korea one of the strongest memories I will have is of the sheer power of the working class Koreans I’ve seen during my time here.

J

Gwanghwamun Plaza Ice Skating in Seoul, South Korea

This afternoon I headed out to take pictures of people ice skating in Gwanghwamun Plaza (click here to see the higher quality pictures on my flickr page).  It was still really cold outside, and with the wind chill factor it felt like it was -23 or so . . . in other words, it was VERY COLD!

There was still work being done on clearing the city streets of all the snow that had fallen (click here to see pictures of the heavy snow fall from this past Monday).

I was surprised to see some cars still had a thick layer of snow on top, lol.  I guess some people hadn’t bothered to clear off all the snow that accumulated from this past Monday.

The roads were a million times better for the scooter and motorcycle delivery guys.  I was amazed to see some of them working and driving this past Monday when the streets were extremely hazardous and covered with a lot of snow.

Walking along the a wall that leads to Changdeok Palace (click here and here to see pictures of the palace) I saw this leaf and icicle . . .

. . . and then I saw a cute couple walking down the street holding hands . . . awwww . . . aren’t they cute?

While walking to the plaza I kept my eyes out for any birds or animals that might be brave enough to come out in the very cold temperatures . . . unfortunately the only thing I saw were some large bird nests.

I really should have gone into Changdeok Palace earlier in the week but I felt that it was too cold and was hoping it would ‘warm up’ a little . . . I may still go tomorrow as Thursday is the one day of the week you can walk around on your own.  For now this sneak peak over the wall will have to do . . . but I do plan on getting more shots of the palace with snow!

All this week traveling in Seoul has been a little more difficult.  Subway line 1 actually had periods where it was down, and both Julianne and I were surprised by the big increase in numbers of people taking the subways due to the huge snow fall.  The buses were also having a hard time with the city street ice and snow conditions . . . but city workers and police have been working on it every day and things are looking like they’re a lot better now on the busier roads.

I have a lot of respect for the city workers who have to shovel all the snow.

I finally arrived at Gwanghwamun Plaza (see here and here for pictures of the 2009 Snow Jam) which is right across the street from Gyeongbok Palace.

I forgot to check and see how much tickets cost to go ice skating but I can’t imagine it’s expensive.  Arriving at the edge of the ice rink I was surprised to see several Koreans clinging to the railing that runs around the large rink . . . but I then realized that ice skating is not nearly as common in Korea as it is back in Canada, and that first time skaters usually stay close to the wall until they figure out the basics.

This guy seemed to be doing pretty well . . .

This guy . . . not so well, lol.

I noticed that many of the skaters had helmets on . . . it surprised me a little bit because adults usually don’t wear helmets when ice skating in Canada but again considering the fact that many skaters were probably doing it for the first time I could see the common sense behind wearing them.

Then I saw these fun sculptures.  I recognize them from Korean mythology but can’t name them off the top of my head.   I like the modern art style that’s been added here.

This guy was working HARD.  I’m not sure how much the bin weighed that he was pushing but from the look on his face I’d say it was very heavy.  I like taking pictures of the people who do the behind the scenes work at festivals and events cause without their help visitors would not be able to have a good time.

And then I saw the childrens’ ice rink area–fun!  This mom should get the “Mother of the Year” award for pulling her kids round and round and round the rink!!!

Then there’s this super-cutey!  She looked like she was having a great time.

I’m guessing younger sister being pulled by older sister . . . lol.

And here’s another of the modern art style sculptures I saw all around the rink.

I love the mountainscape that lies just behind Gwanghwamun Plaza and Gyeongbok Palace.  One thing I noticed when I first came to Korea in 2005 was that there are mountains EVERYWHERE–well, at least compared to where I come from in Canada (Ontario).

I’m not sure what this little guy was doing or thinking but you gotta love the intensity in his eyes, lol.

My last shot was taken standing in between two large changing areas where I think you can rent skates and helmets.  Christmas lights and decorations were still up and add a nice touch to the plaza’s ice rink atmosphere.

Even though it was really cold outside I enjoyed walking around and taking pictures, and I think the ice skaters weren’t even paying attention to the cold because I didn’t hear a single “choowa, CHOOWA!” (“It’s cold, it’s COLD!” in Korean) from the Koreans at the rink, lol.  For expats, like myself, who have been living in Korea for a number of years this is something that when absent is rather shocking because saying “choowa!” is like breathing for a Korean when it’s cold . . . and I didn’t hear it once . . . lol.

Well, tomorrow’s forecast says -23, feels like -30 for 9am . . . I’m hoping that the afternoon will ‘warm up’ so that I can go out again and take more pictures.

Wish me luck.

J