Sarangbang

One of the joys of my job is my afterschool class, Sarangbang. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I get 13 5th and 6th graders from 6-8 p.m. We have a text that we work out of that teaches phrases like, "What will he do?" "He will go swimming." We also have a reading curriculum where each week, we read one story on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Thursday they have a reading quiz. (This week it was Goldilocks.)

However, the real joy of Sarangbang is that I am the head teacher in this class, and therefore, get to do whatever the frick I want. This has yielded some interesting results, since I have had no prior teaching experience, but it has also yielded some purely joyous moments.

Last week, I did an exercise with my kids were I wrote Who, What, How, Where, When, Why on the board. Then, the class had to give me an answer to put under each of these column headers. I would then create a story using the answers they had given me, and they would repeat the story back to me in their own words. Here's what this activity yielded:

First, we have, "Miss Kayleigh will fly using her wings to Seoul tomorrow to see her father." Second, "Mrs. Nam (my coteacher) will run to Beijing right now using pigs legs for the Olympics." Third, "Kim (a girl in class) will fight right now in Miss Kayleigh's home, using her head because she is happy." And lastly... and get ready for this one... "Big Bang will sing right now using spoons in the English classroom for Miss Kayleigh's wedding." I'm sure there's no doubt in your mind that the kids lost their minds over this one! Ever since this episode, I have been lovingly called "Big Bang's Wife"... and insult was added to injury when my cell phone accidentally rang in the middle of class a couple days later, because what is my ringtone? None other than Big Bang. Perfect.

One of the favorite activities for my Sarangbang class is a review game where 3 students stand with their backs to the board, I write a vocabulary word on the board, and then their teammates have to take turns describing the word, in English or Korean, until their teammate can guess the word behind them. (My coteacher monitors the Korean so that they don't cheat!) This game was working reeeeaaaaally well, until one little smartypants figured out a new tactic:

If you couldn't tell what was going on- the boy in the middle, Rooney, figured out that it's not exactly cheating if you spell out the word on the board using other English words. Sneaky little guy... you hear me reprimand him with, "No acting," because they're supposed to be using only words, not writing the letters in the air... sneaky little guy!

Finally, one of my favorite moments happened with one of my Sarangbang students during the school day. We were teaching the sentence, "What's he/she doing?", using a cheer. The cheer went, "Nami Nami, Sis Boom Bah," or, "Jinho Jinho, Sis Boom Bah,". Nami is a female character from the curriculum and Jinho is a male character from the curriculum. We split the class and told the girls to cheer for Nami and the boys to cheer for Jinho. All of the sudden, Justin, from my Sarangbang class stands up and says, "But I love Nami!!" Classic.

Justin

So, there's some Sarangbang stories to warm your heart- I'm sure more will be on their way!

A Month and a Half

So, I have been quite neglectful with this blog! I deeply apologize! To attempt to summarize the last month and a half would be absurd, so let's just start off here:

Things You Find in Korea That You Wouldn't/Can't Find at Home:

1. Murses.

They're everywhere- the Male Purse. Walking down the streets, on the busses, while riding scooters, etc. And not only do men here shamelessly rock the murse, they rock their murses in designer style... Coach, Louis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, and Prada all have a clientele base in the murse sector.

2. Epidemic Pop Music.

Can you say Haru Haru? Cause every citizen in this nation sure can! Within my first week here, I was overwhelmed by this song and it's constant presence in every aspect of Korean life. Children sing it in the schools, it plays in the shopping malls, on the radio in taxis, simply everywhere! However, I have also been reeled in by Big Bang's smash hit- so much so, that when I was given a free ringtone with my Korean cell phone, what else could I choose besides Haru Haru? (You, too can enjoy the madness: http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=76v7ogxeNvo)

3. The Need to Sometimes Just Smile and Point.

One of the joys of being illiterate. On more than one occassion, I have been at a restaurant with other foreign friends and been handed a menu with no pictures. The only thing to do at this point is find something in your price range, smile and point. This has yielded different results: one time we were brought this absolutely amazing spicy pork rib soup- soup that I could probably eat every day until I die. On another occasion, however, me and two people from my apartment building were brought a whole fish to pick apart and a dish of some sort of bug.

4. Your Marital Status/Relationships Being on Display at all Times.

Nothing makes a Korean feel more uncomfortable than a single person. It for this reason that one of the first questions you will always be asked is your marital status and whether you have a boyfriend/girlfriend. (Example: I was at the doctor and the x-ray technician asked me only 2 questions: 1. Where are you from? 2. Are you married? Nothing about why I was getting x-rayed.) I don't know about men, but for me, the closer I get to a Korean, the more often they tells me that I need a boyfriend. The administrative ladies at my school are persistently trying to set me up with this guy who also works in the office. My vice principal saw me walk past this guy in the hallway once and said, "You two, perfect! Future! I see it!"

5. Crazy Sea Creatures in the Grocery Store.

I'm from a absolute in-land state and have long been convinced that some of the funkiest things on this planet come from the ocean. However, now that I'm living in a coastal city on the other side of the planet, I've had to get used to the idea of people plucking these things from the water and boiling them for consumption. They are available in the grocery store in their whole form- octopus, eel, squid, and some more unrecognizable critters. In general, I try to stay away from that area of the meat section because I just get too skeeved out at the thought of someone bringing one of them home to serve up.

6. Bastardized English Everywhere.

Clothing, store fronts, food/product packaging, you name it. People love to conjure up some random English words and throw them on everything. Daily, students show up to school wearing shirts that say things like, "NOTHN RHYMES WITH PIRATE", "When be full of dream", "Kitty is my lover", or "Relaxes: No Lots of Cry".

7. Absolutely Absurd Driving.

What do you get when you combine two way streets that are really one way streets with cars parked on both sides, bus drivers who think they're driving scooters, scooter drivers who follow no laws whatsoever, and zero police enforcement? You get an idea of what the roads in Korea are like. I have seen two people hit by cars- both just gathered their bags, put their shoes back on and kept on walking like nothing happened.

8. Offensive Mystery Smells

You're walking along, with your nose minding its own business, when all of the sudden you are smacked in the face by the strange combination of sewer, fish and poo. 3 steps later, it's gone. Where did it come from? How, pray tell, was it created? Will you have to face it again? No one really knows...

9. No Shoes = Service.

The only thing more wrong to a Korean than a single person is wearing your shoes indoors. Whenever you enter a home, school, some businesses, or any traditional restaurant, you must take your shoes off at the door. At school, students and staff have to have special indoor shoes that have never touched the ground outside. It's a pretty obsessive ritual, but I suppose that a country with mystery smells must have some pretty rank stuff on their ground.

10. And Finally.... The Last (and Most Important) Thing That You Can Find in Korea, But Not at Home.......

Kayleigh.


I miss you all and hope you're doing well! Take care!