Semester 2 of Krazy Korea begins today

[bork]

Today I come in and all the teacher sin my office are upset. I'm like, "Whats up?" and they're like, "The Vice Principal said our office is too messy! We have to clean it up now! She canceled our first class so we can clean".

I flipped the fuck out. I never say anything, but I was like "What kind of school is this? It could be a cultural thing, but this is the stupidest school I've ever been in. They hold meetings ABOUT CLASSES DURING CLASSES and then they CANCEL CLASSES SO WE CAN CELAN OUR OFFICE. I don't work for a janitorial service" (I had to explain that word) "I'll be working on lesson plans in the other room".

Maybe I should have been nicer, but maybe that VP monster should worry more about having properly staffed classes than how private offices look. fuuuuuuuck her.

   I'm amazed at how similar Korea and Japan are.  Is China like this too?

Which is probably a big part of the reason why English education in these countries sucks so fucking much.

How can anyone expect the students to take it seriously if the school doesn't even take it seriously?

Yup.  It's still a fun job for foreigners and a great way to see/live abroad for a while, but I'd be pissed off if my kids had the same kind of "teachers" in foreign language classes.  What really needs to be done is for the actual teachers themselves to actually be COMPETENT in the language THEY TEACH and get those kids on the ball.  It's just mind-boggling how there are English teachers who can't fucking speak English.  I couldn't believe it when I actually had to correct a teacher's mistake mid-lesson. 

I think I see the problem here in all your stories.  You give a shit how the school operates or if kids learn English.  If you took the job for a modest pay raise and a chance to see the world, why not just worry about that?  Who cares about the rest?

You have to do the job to understand where everyone is coming from.  Seriously.

Students in Japan get graded on their English (a foreign language is a requirement and that means English in 95% of schools), but when the time comes for university entrance exams, all they get tested on is rote memorization of grammar.  So they get graded for memorizing stuff, not for actual fluency or communicative ability.  Which means they have no motivation to study English as a living language, only as a set of rules and specific words they have to memorize for tests.

I don't think the junior high school kids get graded on their English in Japan.  It certainly didn't seem that way when I was there, and would explain why so many kids tended to not give a flying fuck.  One thing I heard a lot was "I don't have to use English at the job I'm going to do/I'm not going to live in Tokyo/I'm not going to live abroad," etc. etc.  And I can see where they are coming from.  I don't remember a lick of the Spanish classes I took in JHS/HS.

[Ichirou]

High school entrance exams include English, so they're definitely being graded.  You might've been kept out of the loop (sounds like the teachers you worked with weren't particularly good).

[bork]

High school entrance exams include English as standard, so they're definitely being graded.  You might've been kept out of the loop (sounds like the teachers you worked with weren't particularly good).

I know this, but they don't need to pass English (or anything, really) in order to move onto the next JHS grade level.  The kids who were serious about getting into a good high school were the kids who studied English the most, and were the most attentive.  Don't get me wrong; there were plenty of good students, but also a high level of kids who just didn't give a fuck.  The troublemakers stand out, but there were also kids who just slept the entire time (one kid would sleep through EVERY CLASS HE HAD EVERY DAY...I couldn't figure out why he hadn't dropped out), did other class work, tried to sneak books or even video games, etc.

[Fresh Prince]

Having 10-20 fourteen year old boys (and sometimes even more girls) a day tell you "Teacher, you're a handsome guy" is kind of a trip for awhile.

This explains so many things....

[bork]

The video game thing reminds me of two incidents:

-This chubby kid who typically wouldn't pay attention in class (day-dreaming most of the time) had a DS.  The teacher was doing her thing in the front, so I walked around the classroom, checking on the kids.  When chubby saw me, he'd hide his DS.  So I walked around to the other side of the classroom for a bit, then quietly snuck up on him.  This class really liked me, so nobody warned him I was coming.    I tapped him on the shoulder and he freaked out, then frantically stuffed the DS into his bag and denied having it...even though I had been watching him.  Class ended and I told the teacher what happened (there was a bit of a commotion over it), and she got him to take out the DS and give it to her.  The kid stopped coming to school shortly after, and I found out he changed schools.  This is the only possible reason why.

-One of the worst third-year students had a PSP or game manuals that he would take out occasionally.  Usually the teacher would tell him to turn it off/put the manuals away and he would.  No big deal.  Then one day when I'm in the teachers' room, there's this SCREAMING in the hallway.  It's that same kid.  He got caught playing his PSP in another class and they took it away from him.  He was so upset that he started hyperventilating over it.  The teacher just held him up his arms as he breathed heavily and kicked and screamed.  Then he calmed down and stormed out.  

Having 10-20 fourteen year old boys (and sometimes even more girls) a day tell you "Teacher, you're a handsome guy" is kind of a trip for awhile.

This explains so many things....

LOL.  That's better than the one kid I had (with his horse-face and bleeding gums) who would laugh at me quietly non-stop in class.  (I found out it was because I was "short."  U HAVE SHORT LEGS LOLOLOLOLOL :::laughs for 30 minutes by himself:::: )  All the other kids avoided him.  Then one day he comes up to me and in Japanese, says "TAKE OUT YOUR COCK."  Right in front of the teacher.  I was just  and looked at the teacher, who since he happened to be "retiree," just said "no, no, you shouldn't say that" to him and then told me he didn't say anything.  I said "I know what he said and I'm really disturbed by this."  From that point on, if the kid tried to talk to me, I would just answer him quickly and walk off.

[Ichirou]

Well, you know what they say about dudes with short legs.

[GilloD]

It's a big thing here for kids to try and cram their fingers up your butt. I have to keep my anus protected at all times. I forget what the word is, but it translates to "Shit Needle"

[Mr. Gundam]

It's a big thing here for kids to try and cram their fingers up your butt. I have to keep my anus protected at all times. I forget what the word is, but it translates to "Shit Needle"

It's called kancho in Japan.

I'm amazed at how many cultural things are shared by Japan and Korea.

[bork]

Well, you know what they say about dudes with short legs.

"You're a tripod!"

It's a big thing here for kids to try and cram their fingers up your butt. I have to keep my anus protected at all times. I forget what the word is, but it translates to "Shit Needle"

It's called kancho in Japan.

I'm amazed at how many cultural things are shared by Japan and Korea.

I am really glad I never once saw or encountered this.   

[Cormacaroni]

It's a big thing here for kids to try and cram their fingers up your butt. I have to keep my anus protected at all times. I forget what the word is, but it translates to "Shit Needle"

It's called kancho in Japan.

I'm amazed at how many cultural things are shared by Japan and Korea.

Not so amazing, in light of Japan's  history of invading the place and re-educating the natives.

[bork]

It's hard to envision kanchoing as a part of said re-education.    

[Cormacaroni]

It's hard to envision kanchoing as a part of said re-education.   

They tried it on you, didn't they?

[bork]

It's hard to envision kanchoing as a part of said re-education.   

They tried it on you, didn't they?

Seriously, no!  After all I heard about it, I expected it to be some rampant problem, but nope.  Never saw it or had it attempted on my rear.  Just the one kid asking me to take out my cock.      And of course, the ever-popular "DO U PLAY SEX!??!?"

[GilloD]

It's hard to envision kanchoing as a part of said re-education.    

I've been reading this history of Korea lately- The utter brutalization of these people, both by their own government in the 60's through the fucking 80's when it was still a sham democracy and by colonial powers, is astonishing. I wouldn't be surprised if having something shoved up your ass is some kind of repressed cultural memory.

Also, Koreans hate the Japanese, which is funny.

[GilloD]

Okay. Today I'm ready. Armed with games and activities, videos to visually communicate the rules, Yo Gabba Gabba as a backup, arts and crafts time. I'm gonna make this class work, god dammit! ohgodihearthemcomingwhyisshebringingthemearly

[brawndolicious]

Okay. Today I'm ready. Armed with games and activities, videos to visually communicate the rules, Yo Gabba Gabba as a backup, arts and crafts time. I'm gonna make this class work, god dammit! ohgodihearthemcomingwhyisshebringingthemearly

that would explain why asians are afraid of black people.  put in some Nihao Kai Lan at least, it's the wrong language but they can identify with it.

[chronovore]

It's hard to envision kanchoing as a part of said re-education.    

I've been reading this history of Korea lately- The utter brutalization of these people, both by their own government in the 60's through the fucking 80's when it was still a sham democracy and by colonial powers, is astonishing. I wouldn't be surprised if having something shoved up your ass is some kind of repressed cultural memory.

Also, Koreans hate the Japanese, which is funny.

Well Americans and French hate each other too; similarity breeds contempt.

[Tauntaun]

Okay. Today I'm ready. Armed with games and activities, videos to visually communicate the rules, Yo Gabba Gabba as a backup, arts and crafts time. I'm gonna make this class work, god dammit! ohgodihearthemcomingwhyisshebringingthemearly

[youtube=560,345]Wp_PnJN5d84[/youtube]

[GilloD]

2 new stories:

1: Last Friday was teacher dinner. At teacher dinner all the teachers go to dinner and get black out fucked up. Anyway, we have a new teacher who is kind of shy, but really nice. And because she was new, the VP was like "You need to drink!" and she was like "no, no, I really hate soju, I don't want to" and the VP was like "No, drink!" and she was like "Seriously I really don't want to, it makes me sick" and the VP was like "DRINK IT" and so she tried to drink it and it was like. She had taken a shot of bleach. She really, really hated it. A few seconds in she was like coughing it up and gagging it out and the VP was like "DRINK MORE" and at this point everyone is like dead quiet. It's seriously uncomfortable. I stand up (Which is apparently a no-no, but this is some sick shit) and I'm like "Aneyo! Aneyo! No,no, I'll drink it". Everyone got really scared because no one ever says shit to the VP, but this was really awful.

Anyway, I ended up drinking like 8 of my own shots and then like 10 of hers. Hence my Friday night drunk post festival which ended with me crying to Smog records. It was the opposite of a night to remember.

2: One of my kids had on a shirt today that said "I want to be your poop star". I guess it was supposed to say pop star, but in teh middle of class I just lost it. I couldn't stop laughing and all the kids were like, "Teacher what laugh what laugh" and I didn't wanna single her out, so I  was like "Teacher needs water!" and I made a break for the door so I could continue to lose it in the hallway. lul.

[muckhole]

Should have given that kid a righteous "shit needle".

[Ichirou]

GilloD, no offense, but when you get drunk, stay the fuck away from the computer.  Your drunk threads blow.  You don't even answer embarrassing questions anymore or post pics of your dick.

[GilloD]

GilloD, no offense, but when you get drunk, stay the fuck away from the computer.  Your drunk threads blow.  You don't even answer embarrassing questions anymore or post pics of your dick.

It's true! My reign of terror on Friday extended to Gmail, drunk international calls and Facebook. It was horrible.

[Reb]

What did your parents mail back?

[Green Shinobi]

My co-teachers got me a birthday cake today. I didn't even tell them it was my birthday. I did tell a few students though, and apparently they told a teacher, and when I got to work this morning, there was a big cake waiting. It was one of the nicest things I've experienced in awhile.

[Tauntaun]

Work smarter, not harder.  If the school is setting him up for failure, then why bother trying to succeed?

  You black?

[Tauntaun]

One of my kids had on a shirt today that said "I want to be your poop star".

  I wouldn't have lasted as long as you.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

There's another foreigner who teaches afterschool at my school, and he's probably the worst person I've ever met. He's like 40, yet all he does is talk about how many Korean girls he fucked when he was young. That and complain about how he has no friends in Incheon.

Problem is he is latching on to me fucking hard. He calls me like every fucking day asking to wingman and shit. Fuckkkkk. He works at the same school so it's so hard to duck him. He stops by my office constantly talking about picking up women in front of my co-teacher.

I think this is the most I've ever hated a person. There aren't enough excuses in the world to save me from this piece of shit. I think I'll just kill myself.

[Fresh Prince]

GS in 20 years? I think so

[Ichirou]

GS in 20 years? I think so

[Joe Molotov]

One of my kids had on a shirt today that said "I want to be your poop star".

That's awesome.

[Cormacaroni]

There's another foreigner who teaches afterschool at my school, and he's probably the worst person I've ever met. He's like 40, yet all he does is talk about how many Korean girls he fucked when he was young. That and complain about how he has no friends in Incheon.

Problem is he is latching on to me fucking hard. He calls me like every fucking day asking to wingman and shit. Fuckkkkk. He works at the same school so it's so hard to duck him. He stops by my office constantly talking about picking up women in front of my co-teacher.

I think this is the most I've ever hated a person. There aren't enough excuses in the world to save me from this piece of shit. I think I'll just kill myself.

Time to pull out the ol' EB mad homo routine methinks.

[Fresh Prince]

You don't think that guy was probably the same?

[Fresh Prince]

It's called being old.

[Fresh Prince]

No you just get seen as a creep. And probably in a more traditional culture like Korea it looks creepier. I imagine one of the reasons he wants to hang around Bobisbait is to score with younger chicks which makes it the creepiest. 

[cool breeze]

This is true.  Bob should be flattered that someone is using him as poon bait

[Fresh Prince]

Who knows, who cares? I'm bored.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

He's not my co-teacher. If he were my co-teacher I'd already have hung myself.

[OptimoPeach]

I don't know how to not sound like a dick when I say this, but my entertainment derived from these stories tends to be directly proportional to how distressed and pissed off you guys are. Culture shock and schadenfreude are just an awesome combination, I guess. Keep em coming

[GilloD]

There's another foreigner who teaches afterschool at my school, and he's probably the worst person I've ever met. He's like 40, yet all he does is talk about how many Korean girls he fucked when he was young. That and complain about how he has no friends in Incheon.

Problem is he is latching on to me fucking hard. He calls me like every fucking day asking to wingman and shit. Fuckkkkk. He works at the same school so it's so hard to duck him. He stops by my office constantly talking about picking up women in front of my co-teacher.

I think this is the most I've ever hated a person. There aren't enough excuses in the world to save me from this piece of shit. I think I'll just kill myself.

Yes. Totally. There are a ton of those dudes. I just try and be kind of aloof. I definitley had to tell one of them "Look, you seem nice, but I don't really think we're compatible as friends". He got pissed, but he never called again!

[GilloD]

It's not really creepy to be a 40 year old hanging out with people in their 20s when you're living overseas. I see it all the time over here. Most of us don't speak Korean well enough to make many Korean friends, and there are only so many English speakers. You hang out with whoever you can. Bob's co-teacher is a creep because he's probably a naturally creepy guy, not because he's 40.

I have this discussion a lot- I feel like if you're over 35 or so and still here it's like. How badly did you fuck up your life that you had to come here? Don't you have anything else going on? Anyone who relies on you? It's always kind of sad and they definitley creep me out. I had over 40 friends at home, but they were either like "haha i'm a fuck up" fun dudes or people with actual lives.

Dunno. It always weirds me out here, especially because they're always talking about fucking younger Korean girls. Just gross. They're the guys who buy those videos where Asian girls like swim in a pool of eggs while some guy throws wet pantyhose at them or something

[Cormacaroni]

It's not really creepy to be a 40 year old hanging out with people in their 20s when you're living overseas. I see it all the time over here. Most of us don't speak Korean well enough to make many Korean friends, and there are only so many English speakers. You hang out with whoever you can. Bob's co-teacher is a creep because he's probably a naturally creepy guy, not because he's 40.

I have this discussion a lot- I feel like if you're over 35 or so and still here it's like. How badly did you fuck up your life that you had to come here? Don't you have anything else going on? Anyone who relies on you? It's always kind of sad and they definitley creep me out. I had over 40 friends at home, but they were either like "haha i'm a fuck up" fun dudes or people with actual lives.

Dunno. It always weirds me out here, especially because they're always talking about fucking younger Korean girls. Just gross. They're the guys who buy those videos where Asian girls like swim in a pool of eggs while some guy throws wet pantyhose at them or something

Oh, i'm so bookmarking this post.

[Tristam]

Ah, I was waiting on Bob to post! You gotta tell us how everything's going! (Aside from your creepy co-worker.)

[BobFromPikeCreek]

It's not really creepy to be a 40 year old hanging out with people in their 20s when you're living overseas. I see it all the time over here. Most of us don't speak Korean well enough to make many Korean friends, and there are only so many English speakers. You hang out with whoever you can. Bob's co-teacher is a creep because he's probably a naturally creepy guy, not because he's 40.

I have this discussion a lot- I feel like if you're over 35 or so and still here it's like. How badly did you fuck up your life that you had to come here? Don't you have anything else going on? Anyone who relies on you? It's always kind of sad and they definitley creep me out. I had over 40 friends at home, but they were either like "haha i'm a fuck up" fun dudes or people with actual lives.

Dunno. It always weirds me out here, especially because they're always talking about fucking younger Korean girls. Just gross. They're the guys who buy those videos where Asian girls like swim in a pool of eggs while some guy throws wet pantyhose at them or something

Rough thing is, he rolls deep with the cool english speaking teachers at my school. If I want to see them, I have to see him. :/

Other than that guy, things are great. Love my school, love my co-teacher and am decently happy with my area. My principal is crazy about English (yet can't speak a word) and only hires teachers who can speak it, so I've had some good times with teachers at my school. Met a ton of really cool people outside of school too. People that I would call friends here or at home. I know I'm in the "honeymoon phase," but for now I'm really happy. Can't wait to get paid next week.

[Tristam]

It's not really creepy to be a 40 year old hanging out with people in their 20s when you're living overseas. I see it all the time over here. Most of us don't speak Korean well enough to make many Korean friends, and there are only so many English speakers. You hang out with whoever you can. Bob's co-teacher is a creep because he's probably a naturally creepy guy, not because he's 40.

I have this discussion a lot- I feel like if you're over 35 or so and still here it's like. How badly did you fuck up your life that you had to come here? Don't you have anything else going on? Anyone who relies on you? It's always kind of sad and they definitley creep me out. I had over 40 friends at home, but they were either like "haha i'm a fuck up" fun dudes or people with actual lives.

Dunno. It always weirds me out here, especially because they're always talking about fucking younger Korean girls. Just gross. They're the guys who buy those videos where Asian girls like swim in a pool of eggs while some guy throws wet pantyhose at them or something

Rough thing is, he rolls deep with the cool english speaking teachers at my school. If I want to see them, I have to see him. :/

Other than that guy, things are great. Love my school, love my co-teacher and am decently happy with my area. My principal is crazy about English (yet can't speak a word) and only hires teachers who can speak it, so I've had some good times with teachers at my school. Met a ton of really cool people outside of school too. People that I would call friends here or at home. I know I'm in the "honeymoon phase," but for now I'm really happy. Can't wait to get paid next week.

Sounds great man. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Although my co-teachers speak decent English and they're generally polite, my school is on the whole pretty bogus and that has soured the experience for me. That and the crazed Confucian conservatism of my girlfriend's parents, but they've given up on her so that's one less worry in my life here.

I'll be glad when the weather stops being shit. Spring is supposed to be beautiful here.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

I got lucky on the school front. I only have one co-teacher and her English is damn good. She's also really sweet. I think she was more worried about me liking her than I was worried about her liking me.

Weather-wise, what the hell is going on here? We had a snowstorm yesterday. It's mid March! We didn't get this shit in Canada!

[GilloD]

It's not really creepy to be a 40 year old hanging out with people in their 20s when you're living overseas. I see it all the time over here. Most of us don't speak Korean well enough to make many Korean friends, and there are only so many English speakers. You hang out with whoever you can. Bob's co-teacher is a creep because he's probably a naturally creepy guy, not because he's 40.

I have this discussion a lot- I feel like if you're over 35 or so and still here it's like. How badly did you fuck up your life that you had to come here? Don't you have anything else going on? Anyone who relies on you? It's always kind of sad and they definitley creep me out. I had over 40 friends at home, but they were either like "haha i'm a fuck up" fun dudes or people with actual lives.

Dunno. It always weirds me out here, especially because they're always talking about fucking younger Korean girls. Just gross. They're the guys who buy those videos where Asian girls like swim in a pool of eggs while some guy throws wet pantyhose at them or something

Rough thing is, he rolls deep with the cool english speaking teachers at my school. If I want to see them, I have to see him. :/

Other than that guy, things are great. Love my school, love my co-teacher and am decently happy with my area. My principal is crazy about English (yet can't speak a word) and only hires teachers who can speak it, so I've had some good times with teachers at my school. Met a ton of really cool people outside of school too. People that I would call friends here or at home. I know I'm in the "honeymoon phase," but for now I'm really happy. Can't wait to get paid next week.

Lets hang out and get rocked on Makgoelli in Hongdae. I'll reply to your e-mail tommorrow! mY HONEYMOON PHASE IS DEFINITELY OVER (fuck you caps lock!), but I still like it here. It just feels less WOW-y.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Fuck yes. Hongdae is the shit. I need to spend some time there.

[cool breeze]

I'm a bit confused about something.  Is Korea a temporary thing for you guys like studying abroad or did you all just choose to go over there for work?

[GilloD]

I'm a bit confused about something.  Is Korea a temporary thing for you guys like studying abroad or did you all just choose to go over there for work?

They all heard I was coming and then they signed up.

(Tristram and GS were here before me, I came and then I heard was coming. No one came because anyone else was here. No homo.)

[cool breeze]

I'm a bit confused about something.  Is Korea a temporary thing for you guys like studying abroad or did you all just choose to go over there for work?

They all heard I was coming and then they signed up.

(Tristram and GS were here before me, I came and then I heard was coming. No one came because anyone else was here. No homo.)

oh ok.  just curious because I've never heard of a college offering a study abroad program in Korea. If it is anywhere in asia, it is Japan.

[Green Shinobi]

A student's father accosted me outside of the market the other day and asked if I could teach a private lesson to his son once a week. Technically it's illegal, but it's pretty hard to get caught, so I agreed to do it, and our first lesson was today. He handed me a white envelope with the money inside at the end and said "Here is your thanks expression fee."

Apparently white envelopes are a pretty common thing in this country.

[Green Shinobi]

I've got a proposition for you guys. Let's all do this all you can drink boat trip:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=308078427394

in Seoul next Saturday. Then afterwards we can hit up Hongdae. I'm in talks to buy a bass from some dude in Suwon, so I need to make a trip up north anyway.

[GilloD]

I was in a department store and saw a box that said "KOSMA CLEANING SUPPLIES: DOING THE MOPPING IT IS NOT DRUDGERY". I took a pitcher.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Where can I get a 220 to 110 voltage converter? Couldn't find one in Emart today. I don't want to blow my xbox up.

[GilloD]

Where can I get a 220 to 110 voltage converter? Couldn't find one in Emart today. I don't want to blow my xbox up.

They can be hard to find- Check hardware stores. If you still can't find it, try Homeplus. I can check at Costco next time I go.

I think your XBox should be okay- You may need not need a converter, just a plug adaptor. I had to look in like 10 different dollar stores before I found one, but I found it! Lemme know of you can't find it and I'll snag you one from the place near here.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

It definitely does. I plugged it in with just an adapter and sparks shot out. I yanked the cord quick and I think it's ok.

[GilloD]

It definitely does. I plugged it in with just an adapter and sparks shot out. I yanked the cord quick and I think it's ok.

Sparks always shoot of my adapter, ahha. Google it-m I fried my toothbrush charger, but everything else was okay for 220v

[brawndolicious]

you can buy a 110v 360 power supply on ebay for about $20.  probably will cost more than that for shipping tho.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

So my co-teacher took me to a hardware store, and the guy there gave me a down converter that he said would work. Plugged it in, plugged the 360 in, fizz POP. I think my 360 is fucked now. Uggggghhhhhhhhhh. Along with the snow and the raging cold I have, today blows.

[bork]

So my co-teacher took me to a hardware store, and the guy there gave me a down converter that he said would work. Plugged it in, plugged the 360 in, fizz POP. I think my 360 is fucked now. Uggggghhhhhhhhhh. Along with the snow and the raging cold I have, today blows.

   That sucks man.  I feel your pain....years back some Chinese (?) company released this kit that would let you modify a Gameboy Advance with TV-out.  I imported it from NCSX and used a step-down converter since the documentation said to.  Fried the GBA and the adaptor.  Fortunately NCSX came through and refunded my money, plus got the GBA working/replaced (I forget which).  Since then I never bothered using those converters for video game hardware.