My Blog

05.15.06; Last week was interesting. I unofficially joined the inline skate club and can go to the park near my house to meet with them any night of the week. They practice from 7-10 every weekday.

Monday TEACHER’S DAY… Today we have the day off. I was so happy, last week I was suppose to have Monday off but BeupSu had school. So I spent the day doing a puzzle in the comfort of my own home watching movies and relaxing. Now I think I should get some lessons done and say hi to everyone.

Yesterday I went to a soccer game in ChangWon. Gyung Nam FC, it was a lot of fun. I also found out last week that their clubhouse is in HamAn. Not only do they live in HamAn, they live near my house. I can walk by it when I go to the park! That is something, and there are a few foreign players on the team. Ji-Sun (my host sister) told me that we should try to get to know one of them and then she can find a guy!

When we went to the game, they had an offer with SamSung that you could sign up for a credit card with no opening fee and get a free ticket. Tickets are so expensive to begin with here at $8 for the best seat. Also got another discount with the LG telecom card (at least I think it was that one!).

Then we went to see a movie. He wanted to see Mission Impossible. While we were there I realized something that made me laugh. Koreans try to always get a discount. If you do not get the discount and you pay full price then you are considered an idiot. Now, let’s see how Johnson made out with the movie tickets. I hope I can remember all of the tricks he used.

First of all, 2 movie tickets should cost $13. Then there was the LG telecom card discount of $2 per card. We used both of our cards so that would be a $4 discount. Then he used 2 other cards, I am not sure exactly what they were but it got us 2 other discounts. And he had brought his id card from LG because that will get a $1 discount, but they stopped doing that. He was so annoyed at the company for taking away that discount, I thought he would curse them forever! He then gave them a gift certificate for $5 that his company had given them. Perhaps that is why he didn’t scream at the company that time… hehe. After all of the different cards and tricks, we ended up spending $3 on the tickets.  Yes, there was a $10 discount with all of the cards and tricks.

I must say though that with all of the discount cards, they will need some back surgery from all of the extra weight! He told me while we were drinking coffee and waiting for the movie to begin that if a Korean pays full price everyone else will think that he is an idiot.

I have not gotten into the discounting as others before me have, I will not mention any names but I know of one of my friends on here who has more cards than can fit into any card holder!!! And I am not talking about Johnson here. I do have an LG telecom card, a Trial card (the local supermarket), a GS Mart card (from when I lived in Busan) and that is it.

So now, I will get back to work on my lessons and hopefully finish them so I can enjoy the week and inline skate past the clubhouse every night in hopes of seeing the one Brazilian guy that is on the team and saying hello to him in Portuguese. It would actually be nice to hear Portuguese again. It has been a long time. Or even to see any of the foreign players and say hi. That is just a small obsession with me right now. Something to spice up life in the country and inspire me to get out and do my exercise.

05.03.06, Well, today I came to school with 5 classes on my schedule. The average class load would be 4-5 for native speakers here. Being that we have exams tomorrow I thought I would just check and make sure if I was going to teach or not. So I asked all of my teachers 1 by 1 and all of them told me that they will go and review for the mid-term. So 5 classes, now down to NONE!

I was so shocked, I just had to write. So I am at school now… luckily I have a computer this semester and so I can write messages and lesson plans here. The week is just getting better and better.

Still there is more!!! BEST OF ALL:

Friday I will be going to Busan for a short vacation. I will stay there Friday and Saturday with the other native speaker in HamAn. Ok, now for the great news… we will be staying on the beach. We will be VERY VERY close to it if not right on it. And this is not the busy season soooooo there will not be too many people there. It will just be nice to sit next to the beach and relax. We can also go around Busan and do some tourist things. It is going to be a weekend of heaven! I can’t wait, and I am scared that I will not want to come back here!

Ok, more later. Yesterday I didn’t get any work done while I was at school so I should do something!

Mary

05.01.06- Well, I’d like to say that something really exciting was new but as usual it is the same. Good news, there have been field trips, tests, and other things that have made my schedule a little less crazy. I have not had a full week in a long time. I don’t know what will happen to me when I actually have to teach all of the classes. So I am relaxing and enjoying it.

As for things here. HamAn is the "Peaceful City" that it always is. Just a note for you, HamAn actually translates to Peaceful City. I checked out the characters (Cheng An or City Peace literally)!

Today BeopSu (the smaller school) Middle School invited me to go out to dinner with them. It is really a nice feeling to be out with them as they are a very small school. Teachers always try to talk to me about something. It feels like a family. I drank some soju (Korean alcohol) with a teacher and now he wants to take me out to drink. He was impressed that everytime he had a shot, I also had one with him. Hmmm, hehehe. That is good.

This weekend I will go to Busan with another native speaker and we will have some fun there. I want to take her to a sports game, and Hyundae Beach, perhaps some sight seeing. It will be nice.

We can be invisible for a few days and walk outside of our house without 10 students coming to us saying "Hi, ___ teacher. How are you?" And we will be able to relax. Yes, here I am known as Mary Teacher. Usually they call us Mary Sun Seng Nim, which translates into English as Mary Teacher. So I am used to that name now because if they use the Korean I usually tell them that they should speak English with me. So, we compromised on using an English translation that sounds like Konglish!

Now I am at home. I should get some lessons done for classes but I wanted to say hi. I have done about 3 different lessons in the past 2 months! That is how many classes I missed. And we still have Buddha’s Birthday/Children’s Day, Teacher’s Day, and election day this month alone. There is also a sports festival day or two in there but I am not sure if it is this month or next month.

Oh yes, that reminds me. Monday is a vacation day for HamAn Middle School. Here in the country, students have to help their parents on the farm. So they will have 1 harvesting day and 1 day to plant. Monday is the day that the boys at HamAn Middle School must stay home and help their parents. Unfortunately, I have to go to BeopSu Middle School. However, that just means that I need to go to work at 11 instead of 8:30!!! Feel sorry for me?!

Ok, will write more soon, going to get another lesson finished so I can rest easily. Even though this week is mid-term week and that means that many teachers need to have more classes in order to catch up before the mid-term. Sadly for me that means that there are less classes that I have to teach!

Mary

03.26.06. Sunday; Well, not many things are new here as usual. Things will be calming down again, I think it gets really busy and then really slow for me. So I should get things done when it is slow!

I will be teaching the high school class once a week, it will be the 2nd grade of high school. That would be the class I really like. So I am really happy about that. They are great students and they study hard. It is great to have them in class.

I will also be getting Sky Life, the satellite tv system here in Korea. After watching my collection of movies over and over again and realizing that there will be no World Cup games on in HamAn, I decided to get it. It will only cost me 25$ a month which would be less than an hour of teaching at HamAn High School!!!! So I decided to have some sanity in my life, get the tv stations and be able to watch some things in English.

Other than that, just the usual routine of teaching at the middle school. AH BeopSu (the smaller school I go to on Monday with 20 kids in a class) wants to do an extra class on Monday so that will also be some extra $ for me. I figure I should save now while I am in the country with not much to do so that I can really enjoy myself when I move.

When I move next time I will go to another bigger area (hopefully) and I will be able to take some cultural classes, learn somethings like cooking or art or traditional crafts. And I will be able to meet some Koreans and improve my language skills. Right now I am focusing on creating lessons and learning how to teach in the middle school.

I am happy about my work, it does feel good. With the exception of a few things everything is ok here.

Will write more soon. Hope you are enjoying the stories from Korea and will try to write another one as soon as possible, or as soon as I have something else to write about.

Mary

03.22.06; Wednesday, This has been a VERY busy week. Last Friday they told me that the Gyung Nam Education Office Supervisor was going to come to see me teach on Wednesday. I had to do a lot of papers for them and since it was the first time they really asked me for that much work I figured I would just do it and not complain. I prepared a 1st grade middle school lesson. Then on Sunday they informed me that they wanted a 2nd grade lesson and with a PowerPoint presentation. So I had to change the entire thing.

Well, that is over. The supervisor didn’t even come to the classes (which was fine by me!) and I do not have to worry so much anymore. Poor teachers looked so tired today from preparing classes and cleaning the school and everything.

Not much has been happening here in the small country town of HamAn! Nothing ever really happens. Tomorrow I will be getting satellite TV, and it will only cost me about 20$US per month. That is not bad compared to the US with 100$!!!! I will have some sports channels, some movie channels and will be able to watch something on TV and relax. I am sick of all the DVDs I brought from the US (and I have over a hundred now)!!!

More news later. Thanks to those who responded to the big e-mail I sent out. If you did not receive it then send me your e-mail address and I will send it to you.

More later,

Mary

ps. Forgot to mention that I wore a skirt today… yes you read that correctly "I wore a skirt!!!!" And when I walked into the teacher’s room today they commented on it. Then throughout the day various students said things about that. They said "Shocking!" "Beautiful" One class even said "Where is Mary?!"

They will not see me in a dress until the day I leave the school!!!!

Monday, March 13, 2006; Tomorrow is White Day in Korea. For those of you who do not know (probably all!) it is part of Valentine’s Day in Korea. On February 14, the girlfriend will give her boyfriend chocolate. Then a month later, the boyfriend will give the girlfriend flowers and chocolate.

Well, I got to go to a soccer game yesterday. Gyung Nam FC, in ChangWon started a team and yesterday was opening day. The score was tied, the weather was freezing but I was having the time of my life. I love going to games. I also have a jersey from the team for future games. After returning home, I got lolly pop flowers, and a bottle of perfume.

Today, I went to BeopSu and the teacher practically begged me to do an extra class for the students there. So I will be arranging my schedule to fit it in while I am there. I love the students there so it won’t be too bad and they will have 1 extra class per grade a month so planning won’t be too bad either.

Things are ok here although I must say that I am a bit homesick. This is the longest that I have been away from home, it has been a year and 3 months already. I will be returning in August or around there for anyone who would like to know.

School is not bad. The students learned a lot from last semester, mostly they are just used to my classes and my speaking. So this semester the second and third grades of middle school are easier to teach. I have found that if I am firm with the boys that they are easier to control.

Tonight I had a memorial service for Ahpoh. After I came home I prepared some food, and did a little ceremony at my house. I think there actually is a temple here but I don’t think I can get there on foot. Amazing that it has been a year since that happened.

For those of you who do not know about that… a year after someone passes away it is customary to have a memorial ceremony for them. In Korea they also have these memorial ceremonies. It is just a time to honor the spirit and think about the times spent together.

Well, as always I hope you are enjoying this site and I will try to post more now that I have a bit of extra time. Miss everyone,

Mary

02.07.06 Tuesday; I went to Taiwan and it was wonderful. I appreciate Jean and her family as they let me stay in a room. I got to see family and friends and spend a week being totally carefree and happy. I hope to get back to Taiwan soon, as soon as I can!! I only took a few pictures and I will post them on here. Sam and Vicky, your baby is sooooo cute.

I am back at work now. Well, at least for 2 weeks I will be back and then we will have another break. That break will be for 2 weeks and I will be traveling around Korea. I want to see some more places and things in Korea. I might go and visit some friends or travel to some unknown place. I am up for an adventure!

Yesterday it snowed here so much that we got to go home early. This is very strange for HamAn as it never snows here. I heard that it usually snows lightly but always melts. For the past 2 days there has been a covering of snow on the ground. Students love to have snowball fights, even in the classroom.

Monday when I went to work with my co-teacher in BeopSu (that school is about a 15 minute ride from HamAn) we had to go very slowly. There was snow and ice all over the roads. I don’t think the schools are prepared for a snow delay or cancellation! It took us an hour to get there and once we did I told her not to take me back until she was ready to go home.

Classes have been ok, actually better than last year because many students got used to me and having a class all in English. So I think that this semester will be better than the last one.

Not much new news here. When something happens I will post it!!

For those of you who want to leave a message but can’t, you can e-mail me and I will post it for you. Just let me know if you want me to post it or not. My e-mail address is marycheng_uni@yahoo.com

1.23.06, Monday; I have added a lot of pictures. You should look under apartment and school. I hope that you enjoy these.

This week I will go to Taiwan for a week!!!!! I am very excited. I miss Taiwan soooo much. When I return I will add more about my trip to Taiwan. Hopefully I will be able to take a lot of pictures and have a lot of fun.

1.16.06 Mom, If you are reading this Happy Birthday. I wish that you all the happiness in the next year.

As for me, I am busy as always. This weekend we will have our final presentation in my TESOL class. I am the one who will put that all together and perhaps present.

Classes are ok and I only have 1 more day of winter camp left. I will welcome the break from working so much. After tomorrow I will only work 2 hours a day!! And then I will have my week vacation to relax in Taiwan. Ohhh, so many plans when I get to Taiwan but mostly they include catching up on my rest and relaxing. I will do a bit of sightseeing, shopping and go to many many different coffee shops. In HamAn there are none!

I miss my friends and family and it has been even more difficult these days. I have had the TESOl class and haven’t been able to see my friends from Busan. Then all of my friends in HamAn went away because of the winter break. So it is a bit lonely here. However, that will all change in a week when I go to Taiwan and see some friends there!

Today, I arm wrestled the champion of HamAn Middle School. Hehehe, I beat him. He was a bit upset, but he will get over it. I do not think that anyone in school is going to hear about that from him!! I think it is funny. During the break he was arm wrestling everyone in the class to make up for the loss!!!!

Other than that, there is not a lot of news to report. This week I will be preparing for the final presentation and cleaning my apartment for the New Year. If you are reading this, leave a message and let me know how you are doing. I would love to hear from you.

1/12/2006 Thursday; This is the last group for winter camp. Kind of sad as during these past few weeks I have been able to help a few students at a time and really help them in the way I want to. I got to really know the students by their name (usually an English nickname!) but I got to know about them personally. I am going to miss that when we start classes again and there are 40 students in a class and I just have to say "Hey You SIT DOWN NOW!"

So, I will enjoy the last week. This class only has 9 kids and so it is a lot of fun and challenging. They study hard and finish many many things. We might even get to talk about New Year!!!

As for the TESOL class, only 2 more weeks left and I am so happy. I will be free and can finally do what I want to do. No more tests or studying. No more going to Busan and spending most of my weekend in that class with those ungrateful people. But I will not waste my time talking about that!

Last week I had an interesting happening. I came home one day and 4 kids rang my doorbell. I figured I could open it and find out what they wanted. They stayed for a while and wouldn’t leave. They were so rude I wanted to scream. And the ironic thing is that they brought some fruit (which they ate almost all of it) so I know that their parents sent them to play with the foreigner.

That wasn’t bad. The next day they rang my doorbell again. Remembering how hard it was to get rid of them I didn’t answer the door. They watched for me and then came 10 minutes after I came home. They stayed at my door for 10 minutes ringing the bell, banging on my door, calling my name until they finally left. Only to show up 10 minutes later and repeat the process.

This happened for 2 days, I just ignored them. Now they are gone. But the thing that bothers me the most is that the parents have to be telling the children to come. The children bring fruit to my house. That is a sign that they are sent, why would children bring fruit on their own?? And they are 7-10 years old. Why would someone my age want to be playing with children that I have no connection with or do not know in any other way.

I can understand the parents thinking that it is a good opportunity for their children but this kind of attitude leaves no respect for me as a person, as an individual. It is aggravating.

ok, enough about that. Focus on the good and forget about the negative. It is a learning experience and I will be more careful in the future. I have to get some things done so I am ready to go to Busan tomorrow and study! More later…