It seems like a lot of them are sleep deprived or are so busy during the week that they look forward to sleeping on the weekend. It is quite disturbing to tell you the truth and sometimes bothers me. There has to be something wrong with the Korean system if so may children are looking forward to sleeping on the weekend.
Just this year, the students don't go to school every second Saturday. Before, they went to school every Saturday. They usually go from 9 until 1, as far as I know. Some Koreans told me a while back that starting next year, in March or so, there will be no more school on Saturdays.
The rumour is that Korean parents pressured the government because they didn't have family time with their kids and I guess the gov't listened to them! I hope it happens, as the kids spend so much time going to different schools like music, math, science, english etc.. Some of my kids go to 3 or 4 schools a day and sometimes they go to math class or korean language class for 3 or 4 hours, even on the weekends. I am sure if there is no school on Saturdays, the private schools will be busier and make more money. It is just the Korean style, but the parents don't want them going to regular school on Saturdays anymore.
It is not unsual to see high school kids taking a bus in their uniforms at 11 or 12 at night. I have also seen them on buses at that time. Buses drive them home when they are finished at the schools. Avalon in Jongja, which is a middle school campus, finishes at 11pm. By the time the kids get home, it is midnight and then some of them are up at like 6 am to do homework and get ready for school......... brain overload and sleep deprivation 101.
This picture turned out really weird; half of the body showing in the bottom and out of line!
Andy 2 is in the front alone and then directly behind him is Justin and beside him Andy 1.
I have quite a few students with the same name in my classes. I have 2 Alexes, 2 Johns, 2 Amys, 2 Julies and 2 Julias and 2 Jennys. Some of them are in different classes, but it makes it difficult when they are in the same class with the same name. I can't even use their surnames because a lot of them either don't understand or have the same surname.... hehehe.
Tommy is in the white shirt and beside him is Jacob, in front of him is Charles. Tommy's Korean name is pronounced Sonju, so when I first taught him, I used to call him soju, which of course is the main alcoholic drink that Koreans have when they go out to eat or drink.
The Koreans never have soju without food, by the way. It is very unusual for Koreans to have any kind of liquor without having food with it and actually if you go to any place that sells liquor or soju, it is quite impolite if you don't order any side-dishes to go with your soju.
Anyway, we used to have quite a laugh calling him soju and he was always a good sport about it. I taught him in a class when he was at a level below and now I teach him at the level above that he moved to. He is a really good kid and loves to draw. He wants to be an artist when he grows up. He said he wants to draw characters like Superman and Super Heros.
Charles was late every single class for the first 7 or 8 classes. I warned him that if he was late that he would get detention, but he didn't listen and finally, I had to walk him to the front desk and tell them to call his mother and ask her if it was okay if he showed up late all the time. One time he actually told me that he was late because he fell asleep at home!!! Again, he is a nice kid. He is not late anymore, by the way.
My school is the first school in Korea that has actually had detention, but I think Avalon goes too far with it. The kids have a Korean teacher's test each time they attend the school as well as a quiz in the English teacher's class. The only problem is that with the Korean teacher, if they get more than 3 wrong out of the test of 20 questions, they get a detention. You should see some of the words that they study and the sentences that they have to translate. It is actually quite ridiculous and there are always lots of kids in the detention room everyday. They have to stay for another hour after their classes finish. They are there already for 2 hours and 30 minutes!!!!!!!!!!
I actually asked the kids a question about the tests and the whole memorizing thing.
I asked them if 2 or 3 days later, they remember any of the words or the test itself. 99 percent of them said a tiny tiny bit. They usually just study for the test and then let it go out of their brain. My whole theory about memorization is that it is shite and serves a purpose only for the most common things we need in life such as multiplication and adding up and subtracting. Other than that, I think it is absolutely useless. I told my kids that if I can teach them to understand something, they will remember it forever, or at least parts of it forever.
It really is the style in Korea and one of the things that most of the English teachers have to fight against. It can be quite frustrating sometimes even talking to the Korean teachers about it, as they have it stuck in their heads that memorization works and most of the time they don't have a choice, they are just told to teach it.
Finishing a book and getting through tests is a big thing that appeals to Korean parents, even at smaller schools and in more relaxed situations. The director of the school usually always pressures the teacher to finish the book and get onto another one, regardless of how well the student knows the material. It is all for the parents........ such absolute bullshit at times and every teacher here can tell you stories about the same situation.
I didn't realize that I had a picture of the two girls with the funny laughs. Well, I do! Here they are! Esther is the goat or sheep in the pink t-shirt and Amy is the cross between a pig and a cow or some kind of animal, in the yellow top behind her. Chelsea is sitting next to Amy.
Chelsea was really lucky with regards to her health. She was sprayed by hot oil in the kitchen and it went all over her face and neck and other parts of her body. She was covered in gauze and other things while attending school. She was also lucky as she has no scar tissue. She still has some blotches on her skin, but her skin is mending quite nicely and as I said, she is a very very lucky girl. She is quite shy, but her English level is improving and she is learning to speak a lot better.
Above is a competition that I would never win. My Mum would be embarassed with some of the clothes that I wear. My Mum always looks at your clothes and will say, "That needs an ironing, don't you think?"
There are dry cleaners everywhere in Korea and I mean everywhere. I have one at the bottom of my elevator, but I am too damn cheap and lazy to use it. I still always think of what my Mum would say when I wear clothes that are wrinkled. My sister and Mum would win the ironing competition hands down, anywhere. They even iron socks and underwear.... hehe. I am serious about that too!!!!!!
Korean people have everything ironed and shoes polished. There are very very few people in Korea that don't take the extra time to look good. There are shoe shine places in all the public baths too. You can get your shoes shined for two dollars. Just leave them and the fella will have them done for you when you come out. The Koreans are very particular about their appearance.
Most of us foreigners that come here are quite slovenley compared to the Koreans. I thought my clothes were a little wrinkled sometimes, but I hold nothing on some of the teachers and what they wear to school. I have worn jeans to school this last 8 months and I don't like doing it, but I have no good dress pants, something that will be addressed when I go to Canada in February.
I just think a teacher should at least look a little professional. A lot of the teachers at my school even wear t-shirts with writing on them. One of the teachers had a Tiger Beer t-shirt on the other day. Another teacher at my school is growing a mohawk, well as he puts it, a faux hawk....... whatever, not a good thing to be doing as a teacher as far as I am concerned, but what do I know..... I am an old fashioned stuck-in-the mud, as a lot of the teachers call me when we discuss these kinds of things. I pull them up on it sometimes too... their attire that is.
I am not sure, but I think buses and taxis are allowed to go through red lights if the way is clear. I was on a bus today that did it and also in a taxi tonight that did it and I have seen loads of other buses and taxis doing the same thing. I don't know if they are breaking the law or if there is a rule that says they can do it. Either way, sometimes it freaks me out.
If you don't wear you seatbelt here and get caught, there is a fine. A whopping big one compared to North America. It is 30 dollars!!!!!! Also, another thing that is not common, but does happen to the Koreans occasionally, is jaywalking. There is a fine of 30 dollars for that too and quite a few of my Korean co-workers have been nabbed over the years. The other thing also is talking on your cellphone while driving. If the cops see you, you get a 30 dollar fine too. My ex-director who is a friend of Tony from Ulsan, got nabbed 5 times in one month while I was in Ulsan, back in 2004/05.
When you get into a taxi, if you sit in the back, the driver will not say anything to you about wearing a seatbelt, but if you sit in the front, he will always tell you or gesture to you to put the seatbelt on. I think it is because he is responsible maybe if the cop sees you without your seatbelt....... not sure on that one though.
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