Coulda Woulda Shoulda

A couple of months ago, I decided one very important lesson I wanted to teach all my chicldren was how to actually GREET people properly. I would frequently arrive in class, ask individual students 'how are you' only to hear responses such as 'I'm fine', 'I'm happy' or my favorite Korean invention 'I'm so so', which I have learned should REALLY translate into 'I'm okay'. What stuck out the most, was the impoliteness of their responses. And so, I wrote 1, 2, 3 on the board and explained to them that when they are asked this question, there are THREE parts in the answer: 1 - your state of being (okay, well I didn't write THAT on the board as it would have really flew over their heads) 2 - a recognition that something nice was asked of you (ie THANK YOU. Or THANKS. or THANKS VERY MUCH. Or even the Korean THANKS VERY MUCHY) 3 - do unto others..(in other words, ASK THE QUESTION BACK. The variations included HOW ABOUT YOU? or repeti...

Is it possible that you can't function as an ESL kindergarten teacher WITHOUT 10 hours sleep? I chose last night to go out - NOT TO A BAR - but to a movie. It was a long one - perhpas too long - and a late one but Jack Sparrow is always worth the time. And I was in bed by 1am, which means since I get up at 9am, I still got a good 8 hours (everyone cheer for me because I mastered some math) But now, after 4 kindergartan classes, I feel like I've gone 10 rounds with Tyson. Except no body parts have been bitten off. But my clothes are pretty drenched from the EXCEEDING AMOUNT OF TEARS today. I've never done a job where I needed this much sleep. I like my sleep, I'm a bit of a hibernating bear, but I never used to actually NEED this much sleep to function. I'm so tired that I actually figured you all might be interested in how tired I am today. If that doesn't show mental incapacity, then I'm not sure what else would. Maybe another whole entry about the weather?

Scene opens: 10:30am with the kindergartens second class of the day, after a 5 minute break. Teacher: Okay everyone, please sit down in your desk Students: meeda meeda meeda meeda (Korean for 'continue-babbling-with-my-friends) Teacher: Okay, sit down. Please everyone sit down. Students: *clearly paying no attention to teacher* meeda meeda MEEEDA MEEEDA Teacher: T-student, close the door please. T-student: NO Teacher: *blink blink blink* T-Student: *cheeky smile* Teacher: T-Student I said close the door. T-Student: NO Teacher: *smoke out of ears blood boiling over* 5...4.....3... T-Students and others: *T-student-slams door**scramble-knock-each-other-over-to-get-to-seats* The countdown. For when a simple 'please sit down' just won't do.

I'm not we've tapped into this concept of Teachers' Day in North American but it certainly has it benefits. I was able to sit on the beach yesterday, wade in the sea water and enjoy my book. This sounds like a nice way to pay back a teacher. Perhaps if I had paid more attention to how I was applying my morning moisturiser - which has 25SPF - I wouldn't have come into school today look like I painted my entire forehead and nose red and my cheeks and chin white. No need for pictures. I'll allow you to create your own image. I was also given gift certificates to department stores. Almost a bit too extravagant. So much I wouldn't want to mention the amount but suffice to say I will enjoy shopping for my birthday next week. (mention TWO on the blog of the birthday. there will be a prize for those who can point out how many times I can slip it into blogversation over the next week. cause I'm just THAT sad.) I think the best gift though, was a letter I received fr...

The weeks seem to go by faster then I'm expecting them. Monday - well EVERYONE gets a case of the Mondays sometimes - and certainly that is the day I am most happy to be finished. Tuesday - I'm finished early, well, earlier than on Monday Wednesday and Friday so it feels a bit like a holiday anyway. Wednesday - It's HUMP day! Who doesn't like HUMP day? And who doesn't feel a great relief after lunch on HUMP day knowing that you're closer to the weekend than you were in the morning? Thursday - again, early finish, plus the next day is Friday so all you tend to think about on Thursday is how happy you are that the next day is Friday. Friday - and then there it is. TGIF. The weekend is dropping it's landing gear and looking for the runway. And by mid afternoon, well, the weekend has REALLY already landed. I suppose what's not GREAT about this theory is that I am truly wishing my life away - you know, one of those phrases you hear in your head, your mother...

"Teacher Teacher Pink Please!" During an exercise in kindergarten class today, I was handing out sheets of 'long' paper and 'short' paper, meant to be specifically to be pasted onto a head as 'long hair' and 'short hair'. This, my friends, is the complex workings that go on during my day. Cutting up pieces of paper to ensure we have both 'long' and 'short' and that the little kiddies can understand the difference. There was one little child who was frantic - and adamant - that I made sure pink was made available. Sounds normal enough, although the child was boy. Helooked up into my eyes, pleading for 'pink please, pink'. And I just couldn't help but smile and think of my brother. Because when he was little, his favorite color was pink. And I think that perhaps when my father might have given up hope that he would one day play for the NFL. Although, I never did see my brother use the colour pink to draw hearts around ...

Alice the Camel has 5 humps.... (all the way to) Alice the camel has NO humps now Alice is a HORSE! NEIGHHHHHHHHHHH! Every day I end my kindergarten classes with this classic and it goes down like a house on fire. After 7 days of kindergarten, the other thing that is going down quickly is my little voice. YES people who know me MY VOICE IS NOW LITTLE! I can hardly speak anymore and as I write, can actually feel my vocal chords BEGGING me not to say one...more...word. I can just imagine the number of people I know across the planet letting out a huge guffaw and a sigh of relief, to think that FOR ONCE I have no choice but to JUST..SHUT..UP. I suppose I can also take solace in the fact that my fingers aren't broken, as my Uncle D has often accused me of having when I haven't written in awhile and so, I can continue to blather on in writing and simply hope that this will sustain me until my BIG voice comes back. I've been reading some things about kindergarten teaching, as man...

Our new kindergarten schedule this week has put me, boringly, on no other topic that I'M SO F-ING BUSY AT WORK. When I worked in Belfast, I felt like that was all I ever said. "I'm so busy." "Things are so crazy." "I'm at a lost for words". I can't quite honestly think of anything more boring to write about and more importantly more boring to READ about (although I'm guessing the weather is probably up there...) So, if you're wondering why I've been absent it is precisely because I'm am saving you, readers, from the monotony of, "Wow, I'm not sure how I will EVER survive." One of my biggest pet peeves, besides ignorance, arrogance and that slurping noise your mouth makes when you chew with it open, is when people tell you all about how busy they are. Yes yes, everyone gets busy. But not many people are busy enough to actually discuss it at length. President of a country at war? Yes. Head of the United Nations? ...

Big graduation day at the hogwan and there were many tears. It was touching, funny and serious all at the same time. Words are kinda escaping me as of late so I'll just let the pics do the talking. Here is a wide shot of the chaos: And here is a few closeups of my favorite little dudes. These, my friends are the leaders of tomorrow. And considering how quickly they learn and how smart they are, I'm just happy to know that they may be nice to me when I'm working for them someday. And of course, the biggest graduate of all...

Doing a bit of surfing this morning for 'extra materials' (read: any other games that ARE NOT HANGMAN) I discovered a site I had bookmarked months ago http://www.englishdroid.com/ After a bit of a sift through some of the pages, I was in stitches. It definitely gave me a bit of a giggle, especially the 'satanic' section and the 'school life' bits. Thank goodness the 'profession' does have a few nuts with a wicked sense of humour. Enjoy...