three months, one week and 4 days…
I don’t think I can put off writing any longer. And I’m not gonna stress over getting in every detail of the past few weeks lest dear diary syndrome set in. Deary Diary Syndrome is a condition that occurs when someone doesn’t write in their diary for a long time and then feels that it’s too hard to catch up on everything and that they can’t write anything new until they wrote all of the old and so they write nothing at all and end up hating diaries.
Why this lapse in blogging? I’d attribute it to an number of factors: school, broken computer, fixed but now again broken, special Helen Doran Teacher Training, Christmas cards and shopping, slight laziness and being sick a second time.
I’m gonna start wtih yesterday because that was a doozie and work my way back…
So yesterday was open class when the parents actually came in and sat on tiny chairs in the classroom. Bristol was a DISASTER because honestly it felt like we were on stage. I made the mistake of using sparlkly stars to decorate and the kids became obsessed with them. I also didn’t have them sit by their parents which would have been better for them since they parents could control them. Anyhoo… a wee bit mortifying. And I didn’t discipline any of them in front of the parents because I didn’t want to embarass anyone… you know… Just MYSELF! Eekkk! Cambridge went fine because they are much better behaved though Bristol can do a lot better than what they did yesterday.
The superfun part was when I got to go in afterwards and sit in front of all the parents with Eunice teacher and answer their questions, etc. I was like wow… AWKWARD. However I explained myself and told them that such a setting is not condusive to teaching. And that they need to reinforce at home that listening is good and hitting is bad. Apparently the parents like to complain and this one kid’s mom was like, “What is your teaching experience?” I thought I had been told to say one year so I said one year but I feel bad about saying that. Anyhoo the same mother then asked me what my degree was in and then nodded her and and was like “eh” when I answered. I could have told her that her son is one of the main reasons I spend classtime disciplining rather than teaching but held my tongue. Of course I don’t have experience and I’m not the world’s greatest but Bristol was notorious before I got here and my other class, dear Cambridge, is not a problem to teach. I can actually teach in there.
Suprisingly after talking to the parents via Eunice teacher they actually left on a supposedly good note and thought my class was ok. Hopefully now they will work with me to help change their children’s behavior. I know the Korean teachers agree that Bristol is badly misbehaved in with them. Ironically later in the day they were much better – noboday saw that.
Something came over me today and I spoke to Bristol in a very serious and adament tone about their behavior. No more Miss Nice Guy.
Oh so this was quite exciting… I was holding up one kid to show him the Christmas tree and tripped over a kid who was hiding behind me so that I fell straignt on my back… I held the kid safely in my arms and just a wee bruise on the tail bone.
I also went to exchange money yesterday and in doing so lost almost $1300 as the dollar blows right now. 4 million Won became $2,700 but at least I’ll have my hospital bill from the emergency room this past summer paid off!
After the bank I went to the dr. because I want to avoid being sick as much as I can. He sent me to an ear specialist and basically I just have a middle ear infection blocking the Eustachian tube (remember that my Anatomy friends???) Not a big deal esp. since my ear only crackles, not hurts. I do regret not playing enough Charades in my lifetime though, as the front desk DID NOT SPEAK ANY ENGLISH. Trying to explain that I didn’t have my insurance card with me was quite the conundrum.
It was an interesting experience. First he took some needles with cotton wrapped on the sharp ends and used them as a q-tips, or as Justine calls them, ear buds. I actually thought for a second that the assistant girl was going to stick it in my forehead. I have no idea why I’d think that but I just did. haha. Then the doctor stuck these mini hoses up my nose and blew air out into my nose… I think…. it was a little uncomfortable but I felt cleared out. My nose has been quite proliferant with mucus. See mom – I can use SAT words. (Speaking of SATs, man I HATED that test!!! Don’t get me started.)
Ok well the night before parents day I was trying to cut out stockings for the kids but I was just too exhausted and called home for about one minute and spoke to my dad. He said, “You sure do like to get sick around the holidays.” The mess on my floor was also overwhelming. Which brings us to the weekend….
This past weekend I went Christmas shopping, buying tiny presents that can fit in envelopes for most people. I’m trying to send as light presents as possible since shipping will be a lot. My package for my family will of course cost the most. Still can’t decide what to buy for my brother… hmmm… it’s his birthday coming up. Happy 27th Matthew!!
What else has happened….
In the past few weeks I…
…helped Natasha transport a bookcase from my house on the subway and then to her house.
…took up a dare to eat a red hot chili pepper. I was surprised when the whole pepper wasn’t as spicy as the tiny piece I had had before. As soon as I mentioned that it wasn’t bad my ear started hurting and I started tearing. Oooof. I almost ordered more rice just to make it through the moment.
… did special Helen Doran Teacher Training with a women who came from … POLAND! Now I am certified to teach at any Helen Doran School in the world.
… had a big disagreement wtih Janet which led to me bawling after school one day. Basically I was still ticked about that stupid “threat” from when I was sick and got quite “cheeky” about Janet misunderstanding me again. That resolved itself just fine.
…finally realized how manipulaive Korean business is, even if it’s just a private school, it’s a business. Manipulative to the teachers it employs and to the parents of the children regarding materials. And well my school in particular is using an international franchise name and not doing ANYTHING it is supposed to. It’s like opening a McDonald’s and not selling any burgers or fries. Just kimchi. This has left me wishing I had known then what I know now. But at least I know it now. For anyone who ever decides to brave it in Korea, know that you must be firm with anyone you work for/with and stand up for yourself. A common technique used on foreigners is guilt to the degree that you begin to doubt yourself. Had I known this before coming to Korea some of my hardest days wouldn’t have been so hard. The upside is that I’m only 3 and half months in and I now have this knowledge. Despite all of this, and I’ll tell you about it some time, I like it here for now.
…yada yada yada
-Aimee
Aims
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aimless80
yeah you have fallen behind with your blog. get moving there buddy. Also, you seeem to be into taking dares to eat peppers. i don’t know if you remember years ago, i won’t forget, when we ate at on the border and i dared you to eat the pepper, i believe it was a jalepeno, that came with the meal and you fully ate it. you were chewing on it like you were such a champ and it wasn’t spicy at all. as you got chewing more and more it got worse, i saw it in your eyes. i think the whole episode was so funny i was crying from it. You were crying as well, but i don’t think because it was funny LOL. i don’t know if you remember that but it was a classic Aimee moment.