Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Twin Brother Shout Out
To every email I send... to every facebook status update I create... to every comment online I type... my dearest twin always responds with the two universal words I've come to expect from my caring brother. "Drink Water." Well hon, I have something to say to you. It isn't two words either. It is a thousand words. A picture is worth a thousand words isn't it?
Halfway Point: Toothpaste
Wednesday. Blessed Wednesday. The day I have four middle school conversation classes. They are truly the hardest classes to teach and sadly fall all on the same day. It is however the halfway day. I make it through the conversation classes, then I am halfway through my week :)
Only in South Korea does a teacher come to class to find a student with a toothbrush in her mouth wanting permission to return to the bathroom. Only in South Korea do you walk down the hallways after lunch watching students going between their homerooms and the bathroom while brushing their teeth. Only in South Korea does the teacher's bathroom counter have cups with toothbrushes in them for all the teachers.
Anyrate, a bit of trivia for you today ^_^
Only in South Korea does a teacher come to class to find a student with a toothbrush in her mouth wanting permission to return to the bathroom. Only in South Korea do you walk down the hallways after lunch watching students going between their homerooms and the bathroom while brushing their teeth. Only in South Korea does the teacher's bathroom counter have cups with toothbrushes in them for all the teachers.
Anyrate, a bit of trivia for you today ^_^
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Food: Here and Home
Some reflecting was done today, particularly at lunch, over the differences in food. The people here love their rice and rice products. Back home the love of meals is wheat and wheat products. Here it is rice, rice cakes, topoki, noodles, and other rice-products. Home it can be summed up in two words. Grandma's cooking. There is nothing like the food you grew up with and enjoyed. Food I think is my greatest weakness for being in another culture. I have heard from other expats that food is also one of the hardest things to adjust to. Simply either you adjust or you do not. If you do, you can stay here happily for a few (or many) years. If you do not, well, the likelihood of you running back home within a few months to a year are higher.
Just Tuesday?
It is one of those days where you wake up convinced that it is a day later than it really is. Not a feeling a person particularly enjoys as the confusion and disappointment that come with it are not enjoyable.
On the bright side, a friend stopped by last night with a great idea. She suggested starting a book club that meets twice a month. She would like to start reading a Jane Austen book. My vote is for Pride and Prejudice. Her vote is for Emma, from where she chose her English name. Will see what happens.
Tonight is a special dinner. Our vice principle left last week and our new vice principle arrived over the weekend. I met him Monday. It is a rather short man but can, thankfully, speak English a little bit. Am uncertain how proficient he is but positive that it is enough. At the end of February, he will replace our principle. So I am very hopeful that he is of a good character and personality.
On the bright side, a friend stopped by last night with a great idea. She suggested starting a book club that meets twice a month. She would like to start reading a Jane Austen book. My vote is for Pride and Prejudice. Her vote is for Emma, from where she chose her English name. Will see what happens.
Tonight is a special dinner. Our vice principle left last week and our new vice principle arrived over the weekend. I met him Monday. It is a rather short man but can, thankfully, speak English a little bit. Am uncertain how proficient he is but positive that it is enough. At the end of February, he will replace our principle. So I am very hopeful that he is of a good character and personality.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Mondays
Howdy all, Mondays are my easiest day I think. Today I was able to take a few minutes to work on my drawings a little bit. I sketched out an idea taken from the literature book my freshmen have. The story is called "Eleven" and explains how even though you may be a teen or an adult, there are days where you feel like crying like a three year old. That you are the age you are, plus all the ages that came before.
Then later I was talking with someone and he was telling me about a story he wanted to do someday. I got this idea in my head for his story and ended up merging that idea with the literature story's concept. Finally got the sketch inked and am now applying the copics to it bit by bit.
SDA
In South Korea, the Christian denomination known as the Seventh-day Adventists is really popular. Everyone knows who they are and have a general idea of what they believe. After the Korean War, it was the Seventh-day Adventists who helped rebuild the country. It was the Seventh-day Adventists who build the large schools and universities. So many of the prominent politicians and business leaders that are here today went to those schools.
I work at an SDA boarding school teaching middle and high school students. Despite the law the government passed saying you could not force teachers or students to attend on the weekend, our school has forced the teachers to come to hold Sabbath School for the kids and to attend the church services afterwards. We knew we were attending an SDA school when we signed our contracts, so we didn't say anything. The students may not attend if they choose to leave for the weekend, however if they stay then they must come.
The government learned that our school was breaking the law. So for this semester, they are paying the teachers for every class that is taught and providing almost 50,000 dollars to spent on whatever is needed for our classes. It must be spent by the end of December, no other option. The principle told the Korean teachers that if the students do not continue to come to these classes, that they will be in trouble with him. They are angry at the extra work (they have to do the work of three: teacher, secretary, and counselor) and at the authoritarian attitude in place of encouraging attitude. However, knowing that it can't be helped, they must help make all the classes a success.
In the elementary classes that I teach, I have the youngest kids who speak very little English. I obviously have a translator. We started with the basics this weekend, the beginning of the Bible and talking about Creation. Most of our students are not Christian, but Buddhist. So Sunday it was proposed that our Saturday classes not teach religion, but just English. That way the students' parents will not have reason to be upset. I understand that concern as well as the motivation behind it, yet I can't help but feel that the parents and government know what our school is and what is taught on Saturdays: The Bible. Therefore it should be safe to assume that despite being Buddhist, they don't mind their children being exposed to Christianity or Biblical teachings as they allowed their kids to attend on the Creation Sabbath.
However this turns out, it in the end doesn't change much. An observation: All of Korea knows of SDAs but America (where the denomination started) so few know of the existence of SDAs. Those that do often misunderstand what we believe and don't ask questions to clear it up. Strange how that works. American, the land of freedom, isn't full of free thinking people. They blindly follow the media or Hollywood. South Korea, the land of socialism mixed with democracy, is full of people who try to learn for themselves as much as they can. Americans would be offended... South Koreans would just shrug as that is life.
I work at an SDA boarding school teaching middle and high school students. Despite the law the government passed saying you could not force teachers or students to attend on the weekend, our school has forced the teachers to come to hold Sabbath School for the kids and to attend the church services afterwards. We knew we were attending an SDA school when we signed our contracts, so we didn't say anything. The students may not attend if they choose to leave for the weekend, however if they stay then they must come.
The government learned that our school was breaking the law. So for this semester, they are paying the teachers for every class that is taught and providing almost 50,000 dollars to spent on whatever is needed for our classes. It must be spent by the end of December, no other option. The principle told the Korean teachers that if the students do not continue to come to these classes, that they will be in trouble with him. They are angry at the extra work (they have to do the work of three: teacher, secretary, and counselor) and at the authoritarian attitude in place of encouraging attitude. However, knowing that it can't be helped, they must help make all the classes a success.
In the elementary classes that I teach, I have the youngest kids who speak very little English. I obviously have a translator. We started with the basics this weekend, the beginning of the Bible and talking about Creation. Most of our students are not Christian, but Buddhist. So Sunday it was proposed that our Saturday classes not teach religion, but just English. That way the students' parents will not have reason to be upset. I understand that concern as well as the motivation behind it, yet I can't help but feel that the parents and government know what our school is and what is taught on Saturdays: The Bible. Therefore it should be safe to assume that despite being Buddhist, they don't mind their children being exposed to Christianity or Biblical teachings as they allowed their kids to attend on the Creation Sabbath.
However this turns out, it in the end doesn't change much. An observation: All of Korea knows of SDAs but America (where the denomination started) so few know of the existence of SDAs. Those that do often misunderstand what we believe and don't ask questions to clear it up. Strange how that works. American, the land of freedom, isn't full of free thinking people. They blindly follow the media or Hollywood. South Korea, the land of socialism mixed with democracy, is full of people who try to learn for themselves as much as they can. Americans would be offended... South Koreans would just shrug as that is life.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Copics
Have worked on doing some new art with my copics... here is my early attempts. Really hoping to improve.
The last one is probably the best because I have a set of grays. Having that many options allows me to layer more. I only have one of the other colors so layering is limited.
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