Blast to the Past: Children's Stories

Teaching at elementary school has brought back memories of the little things in my childhood that I've forgotten about. One of those things is children's songs which come up in the English textbook my school uses: ones that first come to mind when you think of children's songs, like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" or "The ABC Song/ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and ones that I forgot I knew like "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Do Your Ears Hang Low..." At the same time that teaching reminds me of my elementary school days, it also makes sure I don't forget it again. After doing a listen and repeat, a run-through with the whole class, then with boys singing the first verse and girls second verse, and again vice verse, for the same song for all 7-8 classes of a grade, I have the song stuck in my head for at least a week. Then, if I'm lucky, for the next lesson, we'll review the previous lesson by singing the song we learned! At least the textbook makes up new words for the song to match each lesson so I mix up different versions when they're stuck in my head.

Where Are You From? ("Do Your Ears Hang Low...")

Where are you from, Where, where are you from?

I am from Canada. I am from China.

Where are you from? Where, where are you from?

I am from London. London!

Where are you from, Where, where are you from?
I am from Singapore. I am from Seattle.
Where are you from? Where, where are you from?
I am from Korea. Korea!

Where is York Street? ("Puff the Magic Dragon")

Oh, well, excuse me, sir. Where is York Street?

Sorry, sorry, I don't know. Sorry, I don't know!

Oh, can you tell me, sir, where is York Street?

Go straight and turn left. Turn left at the corner.

Oh, well, excuse me, ma'am. Where is Bay Street?
Sorry, sorry, I don't know. Sorry, I don't know!
Oh, can you tell me, ma'am, where is Bay Street?
Go straight and turn right. Turn right at the corner.

How Are You? (Minuet in G - not really a children's song, but it's in our English textbook anyway)

Hey, how are you, Jinho? Hey, how are you, Jinho?

Oh, I am fine. Oh, I am fine. Oh, I am fine.

Hey, how about you, Nami? Hey, how about you, Nami?
Oh, I'm very well. Oh, I'm very well. Oh, I'm very well.



Now you can have them stuck in your head too! Bua ha ha

Happy April Fool's Day!

You don't have to teach today!...

April Fool's!

Actually, just kidding! You really don't have to teach today!

Well, they didn't say it like that...
We figured it out after our students didn't show up to first period...

But that meant I couldn't play my April Fool's joke on my classes! ><

In other news, one of my students is trying to set me up with her English hagwon/ academy/ cram school teacher.
After school, she came up to me and said,
"Hi Teacher!
My hagwon teacher.
Um... 위국인. (foreigner)
남자. Uh... Man.
You. Love.

(makes a heart with her hands)

Ok?"
Then she pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture of me with it.

Um. Yeah.
NO.
And I thought I was safe from teachers trying to set me up... ><

Teaching Teachers' Classes

As students, teachers are no different from the kids they teach, if not worse. At least kids show up to class. Teachers sign up for my teachers' classes on a volunteer basis so they're there because they want to be there... or they don't show up because they don't feel like it. It's no easier trying to get teachers to speak English in the teachers' class than it is to get students to speak English in regular classes. They've got all the same self-confidence issues when it comes to speaking a foreign language. And you can't scold teachers. You've got to keep them entertained in class just the same as the elementary school students, but at the same time, you can't insult their intelligence by playing "childish" games. Teaching a teachers' class is just like teaching a bunch of big little kids. ...And I gotta love 'em just like I love my kids. ><

School Dinner

On Tuesday, we had a school dinner (회식) where the school's faculty and staff get together for a marathon of eating and drinking and singing. Last semester, we ate Korean barbecue and went to karaoke (노래방) and my two co-teachers agreed we'd all sing one song for the sake of appearances, excuse ourselves, and call it a night. This semester's 회식 started out similarly: for dinner, we went to a 회집 (a restaurant that specializes in fish which is famous in Pohang since it's a port city) followed by 노래방. However, here's a few things I learned at this 회식:

1. There is always more food coming
I wasn't kidding when I said this was a marathon. When dinner was almost finished, I was surprised because I wasn't quite full. (At these kinds of dinners, I'm usually stuffed even though there are still dishes of food sitting on the table.) So I finished eating most of the sushi until I had my fill. I should have known better... Half an hour later, more soup and rice were served. There were also more snacks and cake at 노래방.

2. It's ok for teachers to flirt with each other (and/ or the vice principal).
The way two of them were acting, I thought they were husband and wife. They're not...

3. I can't sing.
Actually, I knew this before. This was only reinforced at the 회식/노래방.

4. I don't like 노래방.
(See above.)

5. You only attract attention to yourself when you sit down.
During 노래방, I thought I'd take a rest (and escape from the crowd and craziness) by sitting on the side. Another teacher noticed me right away, pulled me back up, and poured me a shot of soju. Until now, I have gotten away at most drinking functions by taking a small sip of whatever alcohol is given me and putting the rest aside. However, this time, the teacher physically took the shot glass and bottoms-upped it for me... and then poured me another shot... and another...

6. I cannot and do not like to drink.
(See #3 and #4.)

Unlike last semester's 회식, we did not leave after one song. We stayed all the way until the end. Yep. but all in all, it was a good time. I got to know a lot of the teachers I otherwise don't interact with at school and got a chance to hang out with them outside of the workplace. I had a little bit of a headache when I got home, but my host mom fixed me a bowl of honey buckwheat tea (?) and I went straight to bed. I'm just glad these things are only once a semester. ^^

How My Taekwondo Kwanjangnim Kicks Butt

My Taekwondo kwanjangnim took my head and cracked the vertebrae in my neck into place on Friday. Yeah. It was kind of awesome.

After the spring semester began last week, I started Taekwondo again at the same gym that I went to last semester. On Friday, I went to Taekwondo class as usual, and we practiced somersaults and flips (which I am not good at at all). At the end of class, the kwanjangnim asked whether anyone's head, neck, or back hurt. He had us pair up with a partner and massage each other's neck/ shoulders. My partner (one of my old students who just started middle school) didn't know how to do it so the kwanjangnim demonstrated on me how to properly massage someone's neck.

1. Lie down flat on the ground.
2. Turn your head to the left.
3. Your partner can use his or her right hand to massage your neck until it hurts.
4. Repeat on the other side.

In the process of demonstrating, he discovered that a muscle in my neck was really tight. He told me to turn my head to the right, but that side didn't hurt. Then he turned my head back to the left and pressed the muscle that hurt, to make sure it still hurt. Turned my head to the right again: "The muscle on this side doesn't hurt right? But this one does?" (OW, yes it does...) Turned my head to face the ceiling: "Hurts right here?" (Yep, same as it did 2 seconds ago...) Then he turned my head to the right... a little more to the right... and then really quickly, snapped it farther than I ever thought my head could go in that direction and cracked all 7 vertebrae in my neck. (At least that's what it sounded like.)

Surprisingly, after all this, when he massaged my neck muscles again, it didn't hurt anymore. He explained (in Korean and hand gestures) that the 3rd vertebra in my neck was not aligned properly which is why the muscle on the left side hurt. It has something to do with my posture and high heels.

While all this had been going on, the other students (who are 12-14 years old) were standing around me saying, "It looks scary! So scary!" Are the kwanjangnim cracked my vertebra back in place, they were like, "Me next! Me next!" and doing rock-paper-scissors to see who would go next...

Oh, the days when we didn't have to worry about uneven vertebrae (did I even know that word in elementary school?) and when all the problems in life were solved with rock-paper-scissors...