things I've laughed at recently

The students got a much needed breather this week due to our school's sports day followed by Children's Day (national holiday).  Last week was their midterms, and clearly the students were running on fumes the last few days.  Wednesday was sports day and the entire school was out on the playground to cheer on their team.  It was a good mix of running events and random games that I had never seen before, so I got a kick out of the whole thing.  Koreans have a warmup routine that is used before every gym class or sporting event to loosen up the body, so the students lined up by class and went through the motions of the 'national stretching song' while I laughed and tried to take pictures.  It reminded me of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' as teachers scoped out the crowd for the rebels who were unwilling to bend all the way, and the heavy usage of the term 'big brother' strengthens the comparison.  

hana, dul, set, net

Next up were some running/relay events.  The little kids race was hilarious as they haven't quite developed their running skills enough to do a whole race without a lot of falling over.  They're too concerned with where their neighbor is to focus on not face planting.  Those races ended in a fair amount of tears, luckily there was an ice cream stand near the school to quell the sobs.  Also I found it funny how the kids would run with their heads pointed up/chin first. 

Next up were some of the games.  I'll share just a few that stuck out to me.  One involved a large ball that was perhaps 4 feet tall.  They had little kids (1st grade?  2nd perhaps?) push the ball to the middle of the field and turn around and push it back where they would give it to the next group to do the same thing.  The kids got a big kick out of pushing the ball as fast as they could, but they didn't put much thought to how they should stop the ball.  This led to a lot of casualties in the waiting line as the ball would come barreling in and the kids weren't paying attention.  The ball won that battle every time, launching kids a few feet and into tears.  

some kid is donebar

Another event was quite similar to a piñata, except instead of using a stick the kids were given a bunch of hackysacks to throw at the ball.  A few unfortunate teachers were tasked with holding the pole that held the ball, needless to say they were pelted over and over again.  The students were too weak so parents rushed the field to take care of business... the teachers were none too pleased.  

sooo much homework was given out after this event

Two events that went over really well were the adult races and tug-of-war, more commonly known as pull the rope in korea...  Nothing better than moms running as hard as they can in street clothes and flimsy shoes or high heels.  The mens races were impressive with one dude wiping out pretty hard.  

winners

losers

other things that have recently made me laugh...

Nate and I were at a local watering hole the other evening, throwin darts and sippin on some barley water when an open mic session started up.  The MC was rockin out his first song, Wonderwall, by Oasis and when he got to the line 'after all, you're my wonderwall' it came out as 'and afterawrrrrr, you're my wonderwarrrrrr' and i couldn't keep it together.  South Park's interpretation of a korean accent is spot on!

That'll do it for now, hope all is well with whoever reads this.

-keith

sad day

My barber shop has been boarded up and barber pole taken down.  I'm not sure if there is any place else in the neighborhood that can make me feel so relaxed one moment and scared for my life the next like that guy could.

of course it's the day I go to get a haircut too...

correction

I will be home July 22nd-August 5th.  I should land in La Crosse around 8 PM.

I never knew this, but I guess La Crosse airport also flies to Detroit!  I'll be flying Incheon --> Detroit --> La Crosse.  Not bad!!!

take care

update

The long stretch of only school related activity continues, but I thought I would update a bit on what I've done.  My after-school classes have been keeping me really busy as there is no curriculum for them, simply what I want to do.  I describe those classes as a welcomed burden... they can be an absolute horror to plan for, but I see the genuine interest in the students as I teach.  That is a welcomed change from the slow and boring national curriculum that I teach every day!!!  Thus far I've taught about natural disasters with my 5th-6th graders, and animals with my 3rd-4th graders... The younger students gave presentations about animals and I was very impressed with about 85% of my class.  Next up is alternative energy with my older students, and my younger students' class is being taken over by an actress who is teaching a play for the English festival that is coming in June.

School volleyball has continued with an increased intensity.  I'm split on how I feel about this, as a local restaurant has a banner proclaiming they're the official hangout or restaurant of the school's vball team.  We also have been coached by an ex-member of the S. Korean national volleyball team.  I enjoy the exercise and bonding it has brought on, but it can be difficult to plan around the volleyball schedule since I usually get less than 24 hours notice about our matches.  Recently we played in a tournament between 8 or so schools and took first place.  You had to be over the age of 40 or be a female to participate so I was tasked with cheering on the team via "highting" yelps.  "highting" is the korean way of saying "fighting" and is a team unity cheer to get everyone revved up.  or so i think?

Here's a photo of the team and fellow "highting" yelpers



Not much else is new.  I should be home from July 24th-August 5th, but plane tickets have not been purchased yet, so don't bank on that.

That'll be all for now.
Hope all is well with whoever reads this.

keith

Birthday!

I was quite surprised how word spread in the school about my birthday.  Approximately 2 or 3 weeks ago the students asked when my birthday was... I told them but actually thought they'd forget or not care when the day came.  Sure enough the kids remembered and I was bombarded by happy birthday wishes from every kid in the school.  It was fun to listen to them sing Happy Birthday to me in English, and funny when they all pronounced my name as Keeeiiisss.  Furthermore, I had a couple students write me birthday messages, give me candy, and best of all they were well-behaved for the WHOLE day.  I never realized how much of a treat that is for a teacher!  I only taught a couple classes on friday, so I was amazed at how many students ran down to the English room in between classes to see me.

Saturday was the actual celebration with friends, as I planned a small dinner with a few close people at a brazilian steakhouse.  This may actually go down as the best decision I ever make in my life, as the food at the restaurant was phenomenal.  Seriously, quite possibly the best meal I've had.  Many people know of these restaurants, but in case you have never happened across one of these gold mines allow me to paint you a beautiful picture...  The restaurant was a smaller place on the 2nd floor of a small building.  Nothing on the outside or walkway up seemed special or of significance.  However, as soon as I walked in I realized this place was going to blow my toupee away.  They have long metal spears that they place chunks of rump roast, sirloin, and other steak on.  Then they roast the meat in a hellish contraption that I imagine is unique in some way or another... I didn't worry about that, I was more concerned with my plate.  Then, a server comes to your table with one of the spears and a knife.  You eye up the chunk of meat and try to stop drooling as the server places the spear near your plate and slices off a PERFECTLY cooked slab of meat.  CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.... DONE!  at this point I would have thought "wow, that was delicious."  However, as you finish your first slab the server comes out with a new kind of meat that has been kissed by the fire spitting hell-machine in the back.  The guy asks if you want a rare slice or something else, all I really remember is not caring, because I know anything thats about to come off that gigantic piece of meat is going to be delectable.  This process continues until you can't feel feelings anymore or when they think you might actually blow.  Besides steak they offered chicken wings, chicken hearts (chewy, not bad though), and BACON.  

Bacon deserves its own paragraph... the bacon was thick and smokey.  It was also wrapped around smaller pieces of steak to give it a bit more to chew.  It was unbelievable...

Anyways, I went to the restaurant with Nate, Braden, Wolfish and Diana.  For followers of the blog you might recall this group from my trip to Hong Kong (minus Diana).  These guys have been the bees' knees when it comes to friends (this sentence would include Diana).  I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to enjoy such a great meal with.  I'm very thankful for them showing up on their saturday night to saturate themselves with meat on my birthday.

Following the dinner we went out for some celebratory drinks, however that is not newsworthy.  Although D did drop a flaming shot on the floor of the bar and I couldn't stop laughing.  In her defense there was a fan in the bar and it did threaten to start her on fire as well.  Oh well... no one got hurt so it's all good.

Finally, the last of the birthday celebrations was today.  Fran, a co-worker and more importantly a friend, from last semester, has her birthday tomorrow.  We had been trying to meet up for dinner since she left Maeyeoul, but our schedules have been conflicting.  Luckily we found time between our two birthdays to meet for dinner and celebrate.  I got her a small assortment of dessert cakes along with a bottle of wine, and she gave me very nice wallet!  We dined at a restaurant called VIPS in Suwon, and I was lucky enough to meet her son, Ryan.  He seems like a bright young man (6th grade), who already speaks great English (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree).    Overall a great 23rd (or 24th in Korea) birthday!

Here are a few photos from the celebrations:

throwing up the twos

happy bersday, teacha keeeiiisss

tried to make it bigger so it is easier to read

happy

full

energy is high

not much to say, but I was swarmed by students today and took out a camera to snap a few photos.  pictures of students never get old.

response after every photo: "AAWWWEEE TTEEAACCCHHAAA!!!!"

I don't know what they were expecting...

resign or re-sign?

I decided to re-sign.

I've been tossing the idea of staying in Korea for another year ever since I returned from my visit home in January, and I finally decided to stay for a 2nd year.  I'm very excited to do some more travel around Asia, SE Asia in particular.  Re-signing with the same school provides some extra benefits that sweetens the deal as well such as 5 extra days of vacation, and a pay raise.  I don't have anything better going on, and I do enjoy the lifestyle in Korea so it makes sense to me.   

I will still be returning home in late August-ish for two weeks between my contracts.

thats all for now.  take care.