I'm sure most of you have noticed that in my last few blogs I've had very little to say without complaining. I felt that one publication of complaining was enough. At the end of the day, as frustrated as I may be about things at work, I still get to have exciting experiences, learn about new cultures, and begin to understand why people in this part of the world behave they way they do.
All that being said, it appears as though my days at Maple Bear are limited. After a short discussion with my director today, it seems that not only will she grant me the release letter that teachers require if they want to change employers (I was considering moving to Japan if they didn't let me leave), but she will also assist me in any way she can to help me find a job that will make me happy, including talking with other directors.
Leaving Maple Bear is about an easy a decision as it was for me to leave my last job at Corel. Not easy at all! Aside from the friends I've made, who I can still keep in contact with, the hardest part is leaving my lenient schedule of a mere 17 hours per week and leaving my sweet apartment. I think people who know me best though, know that I'm a bit of a workaholic and would rather work 50 hours of fulfilling work than meager hours of unfulfilling work. Also, as much as I don't want to leave my sweet loft behind, I know I can live in any conditions. I did survive for 2 months in hostels, parks, and train/bus stations.
As of right now nothing is definite, though I'd say there's about an 80% chance that I'll be moving on to another job in Seoul, and if my current boss, Clara has anything to say about it, in the same area of Mokdong. Clara started at Maple Bear about a month ago. She's really nice, easy to talk to, and has a lot of experience teaching (though I'm not sure much experience with preschool/kindergarten). On the business side of things though, I feel like I could run the company (Maple Bear Mokdong) better. Of course I wouldn't be a very good business student if I didn't feel that way. It's unfortunate how much this place is considered a business before it's considered an educational institution.
On Sunday, since I had too much paperwork to do, I decided my outing for the weekend would be to just go to the local park and read my book "Bloodletting & Miraculous Curses" (Canadian Publication). I bumped into my boss there. She was very stressed about her new job. It was a Sunday and she was just on her way home from work. She explained to me, trying to make me feel sorry for her, for among many things, how much her family was frustrated with her working so many hours and not seeing her, how frustrated she was that none of the teachers were following the lesson plans and how the reputation of the school was very poor (I told you before that this school is a joke). My feelings at the time (and still are), my family sees me even less. If none of the teachers (including myself) don't follow the given lesson plans, there must be a reason for it (I can give you three). It's much easier to follow a lesson plan than it is to come up with one on your own. Plus, on account that this isn't my career and I will never have full residency in this country, why do I care about the reputation of your school more than my wellbeing? Shouldn't you try to regain a good reputation through a good rapport with teachers. Having to deal with this on my day off sent me over the edge. It's not that I can't sympathize with my boss, but if she wants to get some guilt out of me, the least she can do is consider the position I'm coming from. Still, when discussions came of me possibly leaving, she was very fair and very professional, and I respect that.
At this point I don't know what the future lies for me. I would expect that I'll find a job teaching either high school or adults in Seoul. There's possibilities of me leaving Korea too. I'm sure there'll be a change though, and hopefully I can begin to really enjoy myself here, the way I've heard so many other people have been able to.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
I have pictures
I didn't publish anything last week, and for that I apologize. This week I'm going to make up for last week's negligence with pictures.
School
The front desk. Eli is displaying the Korean enthusiasm for peace that Asians seem they need to express in pictures. Eli is one of a few people to have left Maple Bear a month after I started. I miss her very much. She was one of the few people who appreciated my stupidity. One the phone is my new boss. She's very nice, and unlike my old boss, she actually cares. Sometimes her caring means more work for us though. I'm confident she'll make Maple Bear Mokdong less of a joke than it is today.
Lunchtime in Turquoise Bear. Why they call this classroom Turquoise Bear instead of Green Bear is beyond anybody. Some of the Korean TAs have a difficult time pronouncing the word turquoise, there's just no chance for the kids. This is Kim's class, however, she is forced to share the room with me. I also have classes in White Bear (not pictured).
The great thing about lunch time is that it is provided by Maple Bear. Even though I don't start my classes till 14:00, I always make sure I'm in before noon so I can enjoy a meal of rice, soup, vegetables, meats and seafood. Since I don't have class, I don't have to eat my lunch with kids. I get to eat my lunch with the Korean administration staff, which provides me a unique opportunity to talk to Korean adults.
Home Sweet Home
The tall building is where I live, in front of it is a high school. It's an enjoyable walk between home and school. I live in a high class part of Seoul, so most areas do not look like this.
The loft feels quite big because of the high ceilings in the main area. The bedroom only has 1.5 meter (4.5 feet) high ceilings, so I only use it for sleeping. The Canada flag makes me smile, but it also helps stop some light shine on my face in the morning. The window is massive and the blinds are thin. I love my window, just not in the mornings.
The washing machine under the stove is a weird idea to me. The floor gets dirtiest under the stove, so if I happen to drop my clothes taking it out of the washer, they'll immediately get stained. I like not having to pay for laundry though. The rail provides me a nice place to hang my clothes to dry. I just have to remember not to cook fish while my clothes are drying.
I quite enjoy the view of the high school and McDonald's from my window. The gray building in front of McDonald's is where three other teachers live. I've seen one of the rooms in there. It's quite nice, but they don't have 15 foot ceilings or talking doors. They do have an island in the kitchen and a couch though. Still, I feel like I got the nicest place. All the other teachers are in a very ghetto area of Seoul with very small apartments. The area they live in is pretty cool though, just because it's very lively, has a nice little market, and everything is cheaper there.
Mokdong has over 500 schools of various types. The building adjacent to me has a school from the fifth floor up to the eighth. I don't know what kind of school it is, but it can't be a good one, because they still use green chalk boards instead of the less messy white boards. At night when the lights are on I can see clearly into their windows. Usually there's classes running till about 22:00. This makes me wonder if the students ever get distracted from their long day of studies when they see me walking around my apartment. I'm reminded of ugly naked guy in Friends.
Gyeonghuigung Palace
Gyeonghuigung Palace is the only palace I've seen so far. It's one of the smaller palaces here, but it was incredible to visit. It has architecture unlike anything I've seen before. It's so simple, yet so effective.
All the buildings within the Palace, with the exception of their roofs, are made from wood. It's clear that the buildings are restored regularly, which makes it difficult to feel like you're in a palace built the 17th century.
What I enjoyed the most about the palace is how empty it was. It adds an element of serenity to the already majestic site. In a city of 10.5 million people,
this is a welcome change of pace. It's also a stark contrast to historical sites in Europe, where often tourists are lined up around the corner to get in.
Street Vendors Are Everywhere
Itaewon is the multicultural part of Seoul. It's the one place where foreigners out number Koreans, and where English is wildly spoken. It's where foreigners go to drink at night and shop during the day. I went once, and I'm sure I'll go back, but I don't imagine it will be anytime soon. I took one picture in Itaewon, just outside the subway station. It's of a vendor selling ripped copies of DVDs. The sign reads: Warning! This area is a special designated public facility. All vending activity is absolutely prohibited here! Any foreign and/or domestic vendor found violating this order, will be Severely punished according to the law.
FC Seoul 0 - 2 FC Suwon
Tim was nice enough to take Dan and myself to a soccer game. It's a mere $7 to get in, and just $3 more for a beer. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The season is just starting, so I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy many more games.
The stadium is a World Cup stadium holding 65,000 people, so when FC Seoul get an attendance of 40,000 people the stadium looks empty. Still, people are noisy, and everyone has a good time, regardless of the score.
The Suwon fans came in numbers. They were louder and enthusiastic and almost made wish I was sitting with them. Suwon is about an hour from me via subway, and they have some historic city walls that I would like to see. I am quite sure I'll go see a game there, because their home games are sure to be a blast.
On the home side we're holding up pieces of construction paper to provide an neat aerial view. I have no idea how cool it looked, but I assume it looked a bit like the the Suwon picture.
After the game, this girl wanted a picture with me. Of course this meant that she had to display her love for peace, because that's just what they do. This is very much the kind of attention that I love. Dan felt left out, but I was eating it up. Another girl told me I look like Thiery Henry, one of the best players in the world. I only assume that meant she was attracted to me. I think soccer games might be the best place to meet girls. I just need to learn to talk to them. I guess I now how a reason to try and learn one of the most difficult languages in the world.
School
The front desk. Eli is displaying the Korean enthusiasm for peace that Asians seem they need to express in pictures. Eli is one of a few people to have left Maple Bear a month after I started. I miss her very much. She was one of the few people who appreciated my stupidity. One the phone is my new boss. She's very nice, and unlike my old boss, she actually cares. Sometimes her caring means more work for us though. I'm confident she'll make Maple Bear Mokdong less of a joke than it is today.
Lunchtime in Turquoise Bear. Why they call this classroom Turquoise Bear instead of Green Bear is beyond anybody. Some of the Korean TAs have a difficult time pronouncing the word turquoise, there's just no chance for the kids. This is Kim's class, however, she is forced to share the room with me. I also have classes in White Bear (not pictured).
The great thing about lunch time is that it is provided by Maple Bear. Even though I don't start my classes till 14:00, I always make sure I'm in before noon so I can enjoy a meal of rice, soup, vegetables, meats and seafood. Since I don't have class, I don't have to eat my lunch with kids. I get to eat my lunch with the Korean administration staff, which provides me a unique opportunity to talk to Korean adults.
Home Sweet Home
The tall building is where I live, in front of it is a high school. It's an enjoyable walk between home and school. I live in a high class part of Seoul, so most areas do not look like this.
The loft feels quite big because of the high ceilings in the main area. The bedroom only has 1.5 meter (4.5 feet) high ceilings, so I only use it for sleeping. The Canada flag makes me smile, but it also helps stop some light shine on my face in the morning. The window is massive and the blinds are thin. I love my window, just not in the mornings.
The washing machine under the stove is a weird idea to me. The floor gets dirtiest under the stove, so if I happen to drop my clothes taking it out of the washer, they'll immediately get stained. I like not having to pay for laundry though. The rail provides me a nice place to hang my clothes to dry. I just have to remember not to cook fish while my clothes are drying.
I quite enjoy the view of the high school and McDonald's from my window. The gray building in front of McDonald's is where three other teachers live. I've seen one of the rooms in there. It's quite nice, but they don't have 15 foot ceilings or talking doors. They do have an island in the kitchen and a couch though. Still, I feel like I got the nicest place. All the other teachers are in a very ghetto area of Seoul with very small apartments. The area they live in is pretty cool though, just because it's very lively, has a nice little market, and everything is cheaper there.
Mokdong has over 500 schools of various types. The building adjacent to me has a school from the fifth floor up to the eighth. I don't know what kind of school it is, but it can't be a good one, because they still use green chalk boards instead of the less messy white boards. At night when the lights are on I can see clearly into their windows. Usually there's classes running till about 22:00. This makes me wonder if the students ever get distracted from their long day of studies when they see me walking around my apartment. I'm reminded of ugly naked guy in Friends.
Gyeonghuigung Palace
Gyeonghuigung Palace is the only palace I've seen so far. It's one of the smaller palaces here, but it was incredible to visit. It has architecture unlike anything I've seen before. It's so simple, yet so effective.
All the buildings within the Palace, with the exception of their roofs, are made from wood. It's clear that the buildings are restored regularly, which makes it difficult to feel like you're in a palace built the 17th century.
What I enjoyed the most about the palace is how empty it was. It adds an element of serenity to the already majestic site. In a city of 10.5 million people,
this is a welcome change of pace. It's also a stark contrast to historical sites in Europe, where often tourists are lined up around the corner to get in.
Street Vendors Are Everywhere
Itaewon is the multicultural part of Seoul. It's the one place where foreigners out number Koreans, and where English is wildly spoken. It's where foreigners go to drink at night and shop during the day. I went once, and I'm sure I'll go back, but I don't imagine it will be anytime soon. I took one picture in Itaewon, just outside the subway station. It's of a vendor selling ripped copies of DVDs. The sign reads: Warning! This area is a special designated public facility. All vending activity is absolutely prohibited here! Any foreign and/or domestic vendor found violating this order, will be Severely punished according to the law.
FC Seoul 0 - 2 FC Suwon
Tim was nice enough to take Dan and myself to a soccer game. It's a mere $7 to get in, and just $3 more for a beer. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The season is just starting, so I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy many more games.The stadium is a World Cup stadium holding 65,000 people, so when FC Seoul get an attendance of 40,000 people the stadium looks empty. Still, people are noisy, and everyone has a good time, regardless of the score.
The Suwon fans came in numbers. They were louder and enthusiastic and almost made wish I was sitting with them. Suwon is about an hour from me via subway, and they have some historic city walls that I would like to see. I am quite sure I'll go see a game there, because their home games are sure to be a blast.
On the home side we're holding up pieces of construction paper to provide an neat aerial view. I have no idea how cool it looked, but I assume it looked a bit like the the Suwon picture.
After the game, this girl wanted a picture with me. Of course this meant that she had to display her love for peace, because that's just what they do. This is very much the kind of attention that I love. Dan felt left out, but I was eating it up. Another girl told me I look like Thiery Henry, one of the best players in the world. I only assume that meant she was attracted to me. I think soccer games might be the best place to meet girls. I just need to learn to talk to them. I guess I now how a reason to try and learn one of the most difficult languages in the world.
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