Teacher Blog

All The News You Need To Know

redgypsophila — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:31:38 +0000

So in January, I was teaching NIE3, the newspaper writing class, for the second time. But of course, it would have made too much sense for the files from the first time I taught it to have been saved… and the vast majority of them weren’t. Out of three levels, what I still had from the level 3 class I designed and a few of the files the level 1 teacher kept were all we had going into the Winter Intensives… Not good. It basically meant I spent December designing not one but three classes. And that is why my blog has been dead for a while.

However that did allow me to go back and make them fit together nicely. Before, the three teachers kind of did their own thing but this time around, the classes followed a much more similar structure. The material was at different levels of difficulty though.

And I will not allow these files to be lost again. That’s two months of hard work (although if you count the other teachers and my triple-time work – that’s six months of hard work). I’m not planning on being here to teach the class a third time but I’m definitely planning on updating these files for a new term and making some kind of quick handbook so it can continue to be taught. I don’t want this class to die. Not just because I’ve worked hard on it but also because the students really have fun reading articles and writing their own and it’s clearly helpful for them to get that extra practical practice instead of reading canned articles that are written with a certain skill set in mind (not that canned articles don’t have their place…).

Teaching this class a second time has made me realize one thing though – the internet is wonderful! There are a lot of resources on the web for designing projects like this. The first time around us teachers were having a hard time finding level appropriate articles and about halfway through December I found a whole bunch of websites that not only have articles for kids (and sometimes written by kids) but also there are actually resources out there to teach kids how to read and write newspaper articles.

Serious, this kind of class is so much cooler for kids than a standard English/language arts class. I really think more schools should adopt programs where kids can actually apply the skills they are learning in a way that mimics the more ‘adult world’. Science Fairs are basically awesome. Why not have a fair for other subjects too, not just the ones that are inherently awesome like Science. Try-Math-A-Lons are okay too.

I guess what I’m trying to say is let’s have a culture of innovation and exploration, rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty, learning by doing. Take chances, make mistakes, get messy! The United States kind of has that. Korea… not so much. But that is for another post.

As a final thought for this post, after teaching the class, I worked my butt off again to get the newspaper ready. Last time around, a “marketing guy” (as he was called) designed the newspaper and it… was okay. But there were lots of stupid errors that shouldn’t have been there. And the newspaper was honestly nothing amazing in the design department considering it was made by a “market guy”. This time around, I was determined to make it awesome. Or as close to awesome as I could. Unfortunately, the original template was not saved so again I had to make it from scratch. After being told the dimensions of the newspaper AFTER I designed it (and having to go back and expand everything), I was also told I could only have one sheet of paper instead of the three that I needed (the last newspaper was only one sheet). Which was ridiculous because I had more students than last time and they wrote much longer articles. I was able to negotiate up to two sheets… although even that was still too little. But I had to work with what I got.

And when it’s finally printed, I post it.

* Editing Note After The Fact: YAY! MY 100th POST!*

Good Eats.

melissabellish — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:36:40 +0000

So, here’s the thing. I LOVE to eat. My culinary palette has definitely expanded in the past several years, and as I mentioned in the post about Taipei, has recently grown again to include fish. (Note: Don’t expect me to be going out and trying live fish or octopus or anything weird. Baby steps.) What I love even more than eating is being able to cook my own food. In fact, I would love to have my own cooking show (M.Bellish Your Cooking will be aired at 9PM on Tuesdays on the Food Network).

Korean food is incredibly diverse. What I’ve tried of it, is only the meat items and haven’t hated anything yet. I even really enjoy the spiciness of Korean food. It’s a much different type of hot then you find with Mexican dishes. More of an all-over warmth in your mouth as opposed to the feeling like you just bit into the sun or something on that scale.

If you’ve ever had Korean BBQ in the states (or in Korea), there’s a good chance you’ve had 삼겹살 (Samgyeopsal) or 갈비 (Galbi). Samgyeopsal is strips of seasoned or unseasoned bacon that’s prepared on a grill at your table. Thick cut bacon. In other words, heaven. You eat it with a bunch of side dishes and wrap it all up in lettuce leaves. Perhaps the best part (if there could possibly be a better part then thick slices of bacon) is the garlic slices that you also throw on the grill. Ambrosia. I went to dinner with Kristen over the weekend and we got samgyeopsal.

Galbi is very similar in how it’s prepared. It is either made with pork or chicken and is made more like a stew on your table with veggies and noodles. There’s also 떡 (Tteok {by the way, the ‘eo’ combination in Korean phonetics actually sounds more like a short ‘a’ so like ‘ah’}), which are kind of like noodles, but thicker and short, and is made by using glutinous rice flour. It’s delicious. It’s steamed or boiled and comes in all shapes and sizes (I actually bought some last week to try cooking and bought a bag of ABC shaped tteok, it was fun).

So, onto my own cooking. I’ve enjoyed using Korean seasonings and spices, and food items, such as tteok, ramen noodles, and thick sliced pork and making them my own way. For example, dinner tonight was pork slices that were covered in this amazing garlic soy paste, over ramen, and salad (I found Ranch dressing today!!) In addition to the garlic soy paste, I also seasoned the pork with thyme, sesame seeds and a little salt. It was delicious. I have pictures of it, but the smell was phenomenal and I am truly sorry that I can’t share that with you.

Well folks, that wraps up this post about food. There’s obviously a ton more I can say, and I will eventually. Maybe Sundays will be my food post days… Thoughts? I’ll also post during the week about teaching thus far. In short, it’s been excellent.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. —-Virginia Woolf

BURMA: Getting there

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:27:00 +0000

For a few months last year, entering Myanmar was a piece of cake. The government had decided to re-instate 'visa on arrival', which meant you could show up at the Yangon International Airport and pay $30 to get an instant visa. Then, overnight, visa on arrival was rescinded quietly. So quietly, in fact, that none of the airlines or passengers flying into Yangon the next day knew about the change. Hundreds of fresh-faced foreigners arrived at immigration with their passports open only to be turned around and told to wait (and pay) for the next available flight back to Bangkok.

Though there is speculation about whether visa on arrival will ever return, as of my visit (January 2011) it wasn't on the program. These days, getting into Myanmar can be something of a catch-22: You don't want to book a flight until you're sure you can get a visa - but you can't get a visa until you have booked a plane ticket. The Myanmar government requires a full itinerary, contact number, and proof of purchase of a round-trip plane ticket before they will issue a visa to enter their country.

When I told him that I wanted to come visit him in Yangon, my friend Ara told me that I'd have to fly into Bangkok and spend a day there in order to get a visa to visit Myanmar. I wouldn't be able to get one in Korea. I said "Ok, no problem" and then I promptly forgot about it.

Two weeks before my trip was scheduled to begin, the price of flights to Bankok had skyrocketed, hundreds of dollars more than I was prepared to pay. Air Asia flights to Kuala Lumpur, however, were still reasonable.

I had to find out for myself if I could get a Myanmar visa in Korea. I looked up the website for the Myanmar embassy in Seoul and called their office number. A nice Korean lady picked up immediately - the one with an automated voice who tells you when a number has been disconnected. I called the other number. Korean lady again. I sent them an email. (I'll give you one guess how that turned out.)

Several days had passed. The longer I waited, the higher prices climbed.

Eventually I found a travel agent in Seoul that specializes in group trips to Myanmar. (Koreans rarely travel unless they're in a group.) They had a couple of documents on their website about visa applications, so I called them on the off-chance that they would arrange a visa for a foreigner here. I spoke to a guy named Song who said yes - IF the Myanmar Embassy accepted my application, I would be able to get a visa.

So on a Monday morning, with everything riding on two little obnoxious letters, I bought my plane tickets to KL and Yangon, printed out a two-week trip itinerary, wired Song $50, and sent my passport off to Seoul. If everything went according to plan, the visa would be in my passport by 5pm Friday.

I was cutting it close. My flight was scheduled for Saturday.

I must have texted or called Song every day for news of my visa. The second day he told me not to worry. "We haven't heard anything from the embassy," he said. That was apparently a good thing.

Friday afternoon at 3pm I finally got a text message from him, saying that he had my passport in hand. My visa was secure.

Saturday at 10am - the morning of the flight - I visited his office; a small, cramped room on the 10th floor of a large apartment building near Jongno tower. His secretary answered the door, smiled, and turned to point at a single blue passport sitting alone on a table in the middle of the room. Mine.

Korean TV at it’s Finest!

Danny and Katy Doerksen — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:25:00 +0000

Danny and I have the extreme pleasure of being able to watch Korean television (just kidding). One thing that we have come to loathe and love at the same time is Korean commercials. They have a way of being catchy and ridiculous all at the same time. Here is an example of Danny's favorite commercial for now trying to help us "improve our flow" in the bathroom. Watch and learn what we get to see everyday...

I especially like how overjoyed the older man is now that he can pee like the best of them. Now you know if you ever have this problem, Korea is the place with the solutions!

Here's another favorite commercial selling a scandalously named cell phone...

And a compilation of a few more that get stuck in our head....

Actually when we were on vacation and we could watch English TV, sadly that was one of the highlights of our time away. It's funny how a simple English commercial can make you feel at home. Just another day in Korea! ; )

Apartment!

melissabellish — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 09:04:03 +0000

First, I’d like to apologize for the long wait between posts. I suppose the frequency of my first few posts gave false promises of regular updates. I’m pretty lazy. But I’ll try to update more often (well starting next weekend). Anyway, as the title suggests, I FINALLY GOT MY APARTMENT! I moved in this past Tuesday and have been trying to set it up on a limited budget. The teacher who moved out sold me his couch and some appliances which was super. My decorating is sparse at the moment but it will improve. I’m going to get plants. The apartment is right around the corner from the school and seems to be a pretty good area (it’s still been too cold for me to fully explore). I’m also going to be switching apartments in March when the other instructor at my school leaves. My apartment window faces another building. Her apartment overlooks Bucheon. It’s smaller than mine, but I’ll take the view. The apartments in this building are called Officetels. Pretty much, they’re designed for convenience. And the sleeping area is actually in a loft. Well here you go! “Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes.”- I have no idea who said this, but in Korea it’s pretty true… the floors are all heated

Korean Text Message (SMS) Slang

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:13:00 +0000

I taught a couple of my students some English SMS (text message) abbreviations the other day - btw, idk, brb, ttyl, etc. - and they in return they taught me a little bit about the art of the Korean text message. Many of these I knew already, but I did pick up a few new tricks.

Some of these are common in spoken language as well, but this is primarily a list of slang expressions used in chat rooms and text messages.

If you know of any more, please add them in the comments!

ㅎㅎ
ㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋㄷㅋㄷ
Laughing

ㄷㄷㄷ
Trembling from fear, maybe the sound of teeth chattering (deu-deu-deu). [from 덜덜]

ㅂㅂ
Bye-bye.

ㅇㅋ
OK

ㅇㅇ
Yes / I understand / I agree / Shut up (ng ng)

ㄴㄴ
No no.

ㅎㅇ
Hi. Short for 하이.

ㅗ
This can be used as a middle finger.

ㄱ ㅅ
Thanks (short for 감사합니다).

ㄱㅊ
It's OK (short for 괸찮아).

쩐다
Expression of anger, excitement, happiness, or any intense emotion. Kind of like "damn!", though it's not a bad word.

샘
Teacher (short for 선생님).

Korean Emoticons

(Used often by girls in particular)

^^
Happy face. By far the most common Korean emoticon in existence.

ㅠㅠ or ㅠ.ㅠ
Sad / Crying face. Perhaps a close second to ^^. Korean girls are very dramatic.

OTL
This is an entire crying person, who is so distraught he's on his hands and knees.

ㅡ ㅡ
Angry face.

ㅇㅅㅇ
Cute face.

(ㅡ_ㅡ)Zzzz

Sleeping.

This funny clip from 거침없이 하이킥 (High Kick) explains a few more in detail.

Get Travel Directions in Korea

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:16:00 +0000

I've seen some questions lately in Korea forums about getting directions. If you don't know already, there is a FREE travel helpline for foreigners in Korea (in English, Chinese, and Japanese). (Area code) + 1330 They can give you information from bus timetables to Mexican restaurant locations nearby, and in my experience they are generally on - or very close to - the money. You MUST dial the local area code (02 for Seoul, 054 for Gyeongbuk, etc.) + 1330. If you're dial the wrong area code, they won't be able to help you. If you're in Seoul and call 052-1330, they will tell you to hang up and call the Seoul extension.

Korea area codes
Seoul 02
Gyeonggi 031
Incheon 032
Gangwon 033
Busan 051
Daegu 053
Jeju 064
Daejeon 042
Ulsan 052
Gwangju 062
Gyeongnam 055
Gyeongbuk 054
Jeonnam 061
Jeonbuk 063
Chungnam 041
Chungbuk 043

Happy 24th birthday to me

melissabellish — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:06:50 +0000

Yeah, you saw that correctly. I turned 24 on January 1. I know that we all celebrated my 22nd birthday not even 2 months ago, but turns out my time traveling adventure has brought me further than just 14 hours ahead of the East coast. Confused? So am I. In Korea, your age begins before you’re born. So when you are born, you are actually 1 year old. For example, I was born on November 11, 1988. This would have been considered my first birthday, since my age began when I was conceived (guess that answers the question about Korea’s stance on abortion…) Now let’s go to January 1, 1989. Less than 2 months from the time I was born. I am now 2 years old. And everyone is a year older. You become a year older on January 1, because it is the start of the next year of your life, or something along those lines. You still celebrate on the day you were born, but your age doesn’t grow on that day. So, in Korea, on November 11, 2010, I turned 23. Now, since it is the new year, I turned 24. Happy birthday to me. For everyone that laughed because I was so young, joke’s on you =P Also, as you all know, my birthday is indeed a national holiday (Veteran’s Day). Well obviously I was pretty bummed because it won’t be recognized as an important day here in Korea. However, November 11 is called Pepero Day in Korea, which is similar to Valentine’s Day. There are these pretzel-like sticks that come in different flavors called Pepero and if you line 4 of them up, it looks like 11-11. And it became a Hallmark holiday of sorts. No matter where I am in the world, my birthday is still pretty freakin important it seems. Look for another post about this in November.

Andong Market… a “Foodie’s” Heaven!

Danny and Katy Doerksen — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:03:00 +0000

I really enjoy Korea partly because I can pretty much guarantee that I can walk home with a funny story at least once or twice a week. Here is an example: the other day Danny and I and 2 friends from South Africa got on a bus to travel 2 hours to another city and the bus driver made it a point to walk to the back and forcefully tell only us, "NO HAMBURGERS!" Apparently Westerners are just known for bringing hamburgers wherever they go and making a mess! Anyways, that has nothing really to do with today's topic except to prove that Korea is full of funny experiences! So today while I share what a Korean market is like, I will add in a funny experience I had while walking through the market. As you can see above, in a Korea market you can find lots of seafood, as well as different fruits and vegetables. This story highlights the lovely silver fish that you can see in the middle of the picture. While my family was here, actually, we were walking through the market one day, showing them the delicacies of Korea. All of a sudden, we got stopped by this gentleman: He was a VERY friendly guy who was extremely excited to tell me that he was in the army and worked with different Americans while he served his country. In mostly Korean, and in a little broken English, I got the gist that he LOVES America and anyone who has to do with anything American...which is how I ended up with 2 of those silver fish in a bag. He liked me soooo much that he insisted that he buy me 2 fish (which is actually a really nice gift for a stranger being that the fist cost almost $10 a piece). I tried to tell him that I really didn't need the fish, but he wouldn't take no for an answer...which is why I later had to call my co-teacher to help me figure out what to do with the fish. Mrs. Byeon came straight over and proceeded to gut and behead the fish right in my kitchen sink. I called her really hoping that she would actually take the fish OFF my hands, but she also insisted with a lot of garlic, these fish would turn into a delicious meal. As you can see I had the treat of watching fish guts spill into my sink as the fish watched me back, and I was still wondering how in the world I was going to cook these fish. Even though Korea is surrounded by a lot of water, most of Korea is not really known for having great or really fresh seafood. So there we have my funny market experience which will guide us into the real focus of this post: what a Korean market is really like.

Colorado is just catching on to the whole "farmer's market" thing so I have really LOVED being able to see food in a new light when it is sold at a market. Andong has "market day" every fifth day so getting fresh fruits and vegetables is easy to do. The street is packed with woman pulling their wire carts behind them and older Korean ladies (such as the one above) usually wearing any number of different flower or plaid prints and trying to sell off their week's stock.

I know there is no method to their madness, but really it seems like as the style of combining different patterns became more popular, older Korean ladies took it a little too far ; )

The streets is full of huge packs of garlic, never-ending piles of cabbage, and 10 different kinds of crazy looking mushrooms.

I feel like even though it takes a little more time to walk from stall to stall to buy my weekly fruits and vegetables, I love to see all the different things available and the colors of the whole scene are fantastic. Things are truly seasonal in a "real" market so it seems like every week something has disappeared and a new, exciting food has replaced it. These yellow melons where everywhere this summer. Like I said before, the fish isn't something that I am keen to buy because it isn't the freshest thing around. There are tons of stalls displaying their piles of fish, and let's just say the smell coming from them isn't always so appetizing. You can see shark, octopus, crab, munk fish, sardines, and so many other kinds of seafood, but I think, by far the scariest fish is the long silver ones. I don't know their exact name, but their bulging eyes and sharp teeth kinda scare me! Another interesting site in a Korean market is the dteok (Korean rice cake pronounced like "duck"). I only had experience with rice cakes you would get in the supermarket at home that are crispy and crunchy, but Korean dteok is totally different. These sticky masses of smashed rice covered in red bean or pumpkin or nuts is what they consider dessert. If my students have the option of a lollipop or dteok, they will almost always choose dteok. I still haven't found a love for them, but I've got another year to keep trying!

And of course the market wouldn't be complete without a large supply of every kind of kimchi imaginable!

Danny enjoys eating what I bring home, but I know that he doesn't enjoy walking around the market as much as I do. I have found that it has increased my "foodie" passion because it makes me feel more connected to the food I eat (yes, I know I'm a dork ; ). What better place to be a part of the community than in the traditional market!?

Of course there are definite perks to being able to run (or drive) to the grocery store... oh how I miss the cereal aisle, and being able to buy avocados, and the little mist machines that rain down on the produce... but for now I will be happy with my Andong market : )

Happy New Year!

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:36:00 +0000

I celebrated the start of 2011 by climbing Jirisan to watch the sunrise. Here's a video:

Sunrise on the Summit from jonnyontheroad on Vimeo.

Sunrise on the Summit from Jonny ontheroad on Vimeo.